Professor Longbottom
by HereGoesMyReputation
Summary: 'As wrong as this was, it felt right. I shouldn't feel like this but deep down I knew that it was out of my control. I was in love with Professor Longbottom.' Marcia is a struggling but talented Herbology student who is the famous girlfriend of Scorpius Malfoy, but when things turn nasty, will the new Herbology professor come the rescue? Sixth Year.
1. Chapter 1

**Professor Longbottom**

**A/N: I love these sort of stories – forbidden love! I go all fangirly over that sort of thing ;) This is set after the Second Wizard War, so the next generation. I may change some things around in this story, such as Neville **_**not**_** being married to Hannah Abbott. There aren't many other changes. Also, the timings may not work in some ways, but I hope that you can try to look past it because I should have given it more thought! Just a quick warning, this first chapter may drag as it's the introduction. Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading **

The Hogwarts express whistled it's warning to passengers that still weren't on the train as it was about to leave. I slowly turned towards my stressed mother, who smiled warmly at me with tears in her eyes. She hugged me tight and whispered quietly, "You're father misses you a lot. I know that he would want to be here for you in your sixth year, but you do understand don't you Marcia?"

I nodded slowly as I stepped away from my mother and boarded the train, my father was a death eater but he was imprisoned in Azkaban after the War. He has never seen me and I have never seen him, but I prefer it that way- it was just my mother and me. I waved goodbye to my tearful mother, who should have probably gotten used to saying bye to me once a year. My emotional depart from my mother was interrupted by a familiar platinum blonde, "Hey Marcy, how about a quickie?"

I rolled my eyes, "Scorpius, how many times have I told you?! Do you honestly think that I'd do such a thing on a train?" Scorpius and I had been together for a year and it already getting serious…too serious for my opinion. Draco Malfoy, Scorpius' father, was going on about marriage, and that's not something a 16 year old wants to hear.

"I was only joking Marcia…Christ! I'm sorry that you're so frigid." Scorpius walked away arrogantly; sometimes I found it really hard to love him. We definitely had a love-hate relationship.

"Hey Marcia, how are you doing?" My friend Ana asked me from behind; she flicked her brown hair behind her shoulder, revealing the Slytherin emblem.

"I've been getting along, how about you?" I smiled, Anastasia was one of the closest friends I had and she was in the same family situation as I was.

"I'm doing great, but don't you think we should find a compartment?" She gestured towards the endless full compartments of students. I sighed exasperatedly and nodded, walking in front of Ana as we tried to find room for the both of us.

"Sit down girls please." The train warden told us.

Ana gave her a dirty look, "What do you think we're doing you old hag!" I sighed internally; this was one of the reasons why I struggled to make friends in Slytherin, everyone was so horrible to each other. I walked past the warden and finally found an empty compartment, calling Ana over to sit down. We sat comfortably in our seats, and watched outside as the scenery rolled past.

"Mother heard that there's going to be a new Herbology teacher." Ana told me, twiddling her hair in her fingers.

"Really? Who?" I asked, secretly I was starting to get excited, but I didn't want Ana to find out my passion for Herbology.

"Not sure, he's probably some old guy. It's only plants anyway…like who needs Herbology?"

I frowned under my black box fringe, "Yeah, only plants…" My chances of becoming a Herbology professor were becoming slim, mainly because I had stopped trying in lessons after I was mercilessly teased by Ana and Scorpius. They thought I was a weirdo for having a passion for something other than bullying. Tired of my typical over-thinking, I leaned against the train window and gradually fell asleep.

"Go into the Great Hall. You'll be just in time for the Sorting." Professor Slughorn told the sixth years as we entered Hogwarts. The journey had been rather uneventful, as it was just me and Ana who was on the train and on the carriage. I was surprised that Professor Slughorn was still here, he was well into his seventies.

"Hey babe." Scorpius whispered into my ear, sending tingles down my spine. "Wanna ditch the feast?"

This was so typical of Scorpius, "No, we should go. I'm starving, and besides, there's a new professor."

"Suit yourself." Scorpius walked off ahead of me and joined his friends, leaving me alone as Ana had left me a while ago. This was how things mainly went; I was everyone's second choice and back-up. I got fed up of it in fourth year, but the idea of being alone with no friends around pushed me back into the routine of being ditched when someone better came along.

I walked into the Great Hall, adjusting my robe so I was comfortable. Scorpius waved me over as he laughed with his arrogant friends- I couldn't stand most of the people he hung round with. He was different when it was just him and me. I sat down quickly and looked up to our head master, who was Professor McGonagall. She was still around, much to my mother's surprise as she was taught by her at my age.

"Quieten down please, students. I have an important announcement to make." Professor McGonagall shouted over the many people in the Hall. Once it was quiet enough, McGonagall smiled at us all, "Before we begin the Sorting, I must inform you of the new staff here. As our current Herbology teacher Professor Sprout is only working part-time, we have another Herbology Professor. Professor Longbottom, please stand."

A young and tall man stood from his seat, he was admirably good-looking and I could already tell that I was going to enjoy Herbology very much…He was wearing a black satin cloak with the Gryffindor emblem, and a brown and white sweater vest. He looked goofily cute as he smiled sheepishly and sat back down.

After the sound of applause died down, the Sorting began and I soon lost interest. I twirled my curly black hair with my fingers as I thought about the new Herbology teacher; he certainly was a looker but the name Longbottom brought more to my mind than his looks. Neville Longbottom, the hero from the last War. He was in Gryffindor and he faced Voldemort head on. Being a Slytherin I should probably hate what he did, but I found myself admiring his bravery and liking him even more.

"What are you thinking about Marcia?" Scorpius piped up. I looked at him with wide eyes, how could I think of him in such a way when I was with Scorpius.

"Oh nothing…how about after the feast we go somewhere more…private." I smiled devilishly, and he returned the same smile. He gave me a quick kiss before turning back to talk to his friends, and I once again, was alone.

Picking at pieces of bacon and eggs, I struggled to eat my breakfast after the events of last night. Scorpius and I left the feast early to our common room which was deserted.

_Scorpius pulled me down the endless stairs, holding my hand gently. When we finally reached our Common Room, Scorpius pushed me onto the sofa in an aggressive manner._

"_Ow, Scorpius calm down-" I tried to say, but I was interrupted when he crashed our lips together, forcing his tongue into my mouth. I soon started to enjoy it, but I soon felt his hand on my boob and a belt becoming undone. _

_I pulled away in realisation, "What do you think you're doing Scorpius?" I removed his hand from my boob, suddenly feeling violated._

"_What do you think Marcia? How do you expect our relationship to work if we don't have sex?" Scorpius hissed angrily, staring me with anger in his grey eyes._

_I frowned and started to shout, "Is this what this relationship is all about then? Sex?! If that's what you think then this isn't worth it."_

_Scorpius grabbed my arms forcefully and pulled me up from the green satin sofa, "How dare you speak to me in that way!" He dug his nails into my skin, and I was sure that I felt a trickle of blood. I stared back at him as I tried to hide my fear; this wasn't the first time he'd been violent. He let go of my arms and saw me drop to the ground with a yelp. "You're lucky to have someone like me. You don't know the shit that I'm given for going out with you! You have no fucking idea of what I've been through at all, have you?!" He kicked me roughly in the side, and shook his head. I tried to avoid his stare before he walked away and back out the portrait door. _

I shuddered as I felt a dull ache from where Scorpius had kicked me. I knew that I should break up with him, but that would mean the next two years would be full of torment. I looked up quickly at Professor Longbottom, who was laughing with another professor revealing two defined dimples.

"Here you go Miss Thorn." Professor Slughorn smiled as he gave me my time-table, and I looked at it with excitement. I had Herbology first…with Professor Longbottom. I felt excitement but dread at the same time, there was no doubt that I would be teased for choosing Herbology for one of my subjects but that was something that I was willing to do.

After breakfast, I left without speaking to Scorpius or Ana. Scorpius for an obvious reason, but Ana hadn't spoken to me since Lauren arrived (she was a desperate girl who was jealous of my relationship with Scorpius), and I wasn't willing to make the first move and speak to her. Walking out to the green houses, I took a deep breath and was prepared for a lesson in a boiling hot green house.

I walked up to the greenhouse, where several other sixth years were waiting outside…and that's when I saw him. He wasn't wearing his robe, probably because of the heat, and his black rolled-up shirt showed a part of his muscular arms. I felt butterflies as he waved me over.

"Come on, I assume you're Marcia?" Professor Longbottom asked, giving me a half smile. I blushed and nodded as I joined the rest of the class. "Okay, that's all of us. Come inside, but just to warn you it's a bit hot in here."

I followed who I recognised to be Rose Weasley, she was a Gryffindor and the daughter of Ron Weasley. How do I know her you ask? Scorpius told me after he bullied her. He claims that it was only right after what her parents did to his family, but I just ignored him…like I usually did when he bullied innocent people.

"Okay, find your places. I don't mind where you sit as long as you do your work."

Oh great. I was on my own and I had to find a place next to someone who didn't hate me for being Scorpius' girlfriend. I moved gingerly next the empty place beside Rose, who looked up and smiled. Widening my eyes in shock, I sat down and pulled out my books from my bag. Did Rose just smile at me? After everyone Scorpius had done?

"Don't look too surprised." Rose whispered quietly, her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and it really suited her.

"Sorry, I just thought that you didn't like me." I spoke as I got out my quill.

"Why, because of Scorpius?" She scoffed, occasionally looking up at our professor while he handed everyone a wilting tree. I nodded slowly, and she smiled in return, "It's not like you made him act like that. You've never done anything to me."

I gave her a small smile but quickly faced the front, where Professor Longbottom had started the lesson.

"Okay, welcome to your first lesson of Herbology. I am Professor Longbottom, which you already know." He gave the class a genuine grin, "In front of you there is a wilting plant. I would like you to restore that plant to its full health without any support from me. This is more of a recap lesson from last year, so you should know. You may start now."

My mouth dropped; I didn't work too well last year and I could hardly remember a thing. "Sir," I began as I raised my hand, "I can't remember how to do it…" I blushed a bright shade of red when everyone turned round to face me.

Longbottom stared at me with disbelief, "This is easy stuff Marcia." He reluctantly walked over, "You learnt this last year didn't you?"

"Y-yeah. I d-didn't listen very much." I stuttered, giving glares to the people who were still staring at me and they soon looked back to their trees.

"I don't mean to sound harsh Marcia, but if you want to do this subject this year and in seventh year you need to know this stuff." He sighed, "We'll see how the next few lessons go, and if you're still struggling then we'll arrange some extra help outside of classes. Understood?"

I nodded and tried to work on the tree that was sitting in front of me. These lessons were going to be fun…

**A/N: Sorry that this is a bit rubbish. This was a spur of the moment, but I like the idea of it. I understand that at the moment nothing is really happening, but I plan for a lot to happen. I am going to post the second chapter at the same time as this one, so you will get to see for yourself if the story doesn't drag on so much and something actually happens. Anyway, please review, I'd love any feedback **

**~HereGoesMyReputation**


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the previous chapter. I am going to post three chapters all at once so you will have the chance to see if it improves. I put quite a lot of thought into this story, but I don't think I put enough detail in :S In some chapters, there may be songs to represent some things that happens in the chapter. The song for this chapter is **Hearts All Gone – Blink 182**

Just to make some things clear, Marcia is in Slytherin, and her father is Azkaban but he won't be mentioned much in this story. She is also in sixth year.

**I hope you enjoy the chapter**

**Professor Longbottom**

As the winter wind blew through the many willow trees surrounding me, I took a deep breath and lay down on the grass. I was at the Lake, which I had been for quite a while. It was now November, being a few months after I arrived at Hogwarts. The sun peaked through the gaps between the leaves, leaving small specks of sunlight on the ground and on my legs, which gave me a pleasantly warm feeling inside. Things here at Hogwarts certainly weren't looking up since September, Scorpius was violent again and is constantly flirting with other girls, some of my friends had left me because I was being 'distant' and worst of all I was failing Herbology. I can still replay the conversation between myself and Professor Longbottom in the heat of the greenhouse.

_After another terrible lesson of Herbology, I wandered aimlessly round the desks as I waited for Professor Longbottom to finish talking with Luna Lovegood, another Professor who taught Care for Magical Creatures. _

"_Marcia, can you come here now please?" Longbottom spoke in a disappointed tone, his usual bright green eyes looked misty and tired. I walked over slowly as I dreaded what he was going to say. _

"_You're failing Herbology." He looked up at me expectantly as he waited for me to say something, but instead I just stared down at his desk. This wasn't a surprise, so I wasn't going to act like I was. This was a conversation that was bound to happen, and it upset me greatly that I didn't do anything about it earlier._

"_We both know that you've been struggling for the past few months," He began, "You've been relying on Rose's help for most of the lessons we've had, and you know that it can't go on like that." _

"_I understand that Professor." I tried to keep my words to a minimum as I tried to fight the tears. _

_He obviously sensed that I didn't want to talk for much longer, "We will need to discuss what we should do about this, whether we get you a tutor or whatnot." He sighed deeply before continuing. "I know that Herbology means a great deal to you, so I suggest that you try to improve outside of lessons yourself too. Now, you should go or you'll be late for your next lesson." He said as he gave me a small, genuine smile. _

_Ignoring the butterflies in my stomach, I nodded sombrely and left the confined space of the greenhouse. I wasn't going to my next lessons, instead I was going to have some time to myself and think things through._

…and that's how I got here. I was feeling sorry for myself as per usual, when there were others out there in a far worse situation than me…but that thought still didn't stop the tears from falling. Everything seemed to be falling apart, and I couldn't bring myself to save it…what's wrong with me?

"Marcia?"

Sitting up quickly, I wiped away my tears and looked up to the person who intruded in on my silence. To my surprise, it was Professor Longbottom.

"I'm not going to my lessons, so there's no point telling me to." I mumbled, throwing a pebble into the lake. I wish that he would go away but to my annoyance he sat down next to me.

"Marcia, this isn't the right way to deal with failing something. You're meant to try and improve, not start failing other subjects aswell-"

"SHUT UP!" I cried as I stood up in anger. The anger was blinding any common sense that was remaining, "You don't think I know that? I'm just so fed up with it all. I keep trying and it's never good enough."

Professor Longbottom looked up at me and my anger melted when I saw the disappointment in his eyes. "Sit down Marcia."

I did as I was told and sat down with my legs stretched out in front of me. "I'm sorry Professor."

He waved his hand dismissively, "What's wrong?" He put his wand in his pocket and looked at me with genuine concern shown in his features.

Usually I would have brushed this off and said something smart, mainly because Scorpius was around, but I felt like I could trust Professor Longbottom. "Everything." I replied bluntly while pulling my knees to my chest.

I could feel him staring at me with a slight frown, "I can't help you unless you're more specific…" He paused and looked away, "This isn't just because of Herbology is it?"

I shook my head and fought desperately to stop more tears from falling, why was I so weak? "Let's just say that the start of this year has been pretty crappy, and I'm sure that no amount of talking will fix it."

"It might make you feel better though, Marcia." He took a breath as if he was contemplating whether or not he should say something. "Is this about your father? I know that having one parent can be hard but-"

I narrowed my eyes angrily at the water, "No. This is nothing to do with him, he probably has no idea that I exist. It's always been just mother and me, so how you about you stop with the one parent thing! Just because you have absolutely no idea of what it's like to have only one person who cares about you; you probably had a perfectly family with mummy and daddy-"

"Don't go assuming things Marcia…you have no idea of what happened to my parents."

"What? What could have possibly happened that could be so bad?" I asked as I felt anger starting to rise, but when I got no answer I quickly stood up and started to walk away. This talking thing was bullshit. I was walking away before I felt a searing pain in my arm, enough to make me fall to the ground. I looked at the source of the pain and saw Professor Longbottom's hand immediately letting go.

"What's wrong Marcia?" He spoke in a scared tone, peeling back my robe and jumper on my arm to reveal a fresh and angry looking scar.

"How did you get this?" He asked concerned, but with anger raging in his eyes.

I stared back up at him in fear, "I-it's just s-something I got w-when I was y-younger…" I stuttered as I pulled my arm back quickly to hide it from Longbottom.

"That scar is only a few days old, how did you get it?" He pulled me up so I was as tall as his shoulder, and I struggled to look him in the eyes.

"It's nothing to do with you, it's doesn't matter know. I need to go to my lessons…" I grimaced at my lie, lessons were probably finished by now.

"The lessons for today are over now. Please tell me who gave you that scar?" He pleaded as he stared at me closely. We stared at each other for a few seconds, and I was sure that he looked down at my lips.

I shook my head quickly, "No Professor. I really don't want to talk about it."

He sighed in defeat, "I will find out Marcia, mark my words. However, I need to go now and meet Professor Lovegood in Hogsmeade."

Feeling a pang of jealously, my voice started to lower. "Good luck with that…" I took a deep breath as I saw him turning away. "Sir…?"

"Yes Marcia?" He turned back to me and brushed his hair out of his face.

"What about Herbology? Am I getting tutored or something?"

"Ah, yes. Come to my classroom tomorrow at 8 o'clock. We will be doing hourly sessions to see if you improve so you will be in time for the curfew. Bring your books." He started walking off with a slight wave of his hand.

I grimaced and picked up my bag, what was I going to tell Scorpius if he found out I was having tutoring lessons with Professor Longbottom? Scorpius' family hated the Longbottoms, and had very strict views on them. I started to walk back up to school as I debated whether I could manage another Sectumsempra curse. Scorpius had been doing it to me whenever his father was angry at him, and he would use a healing spell afterwards. He'd been inflicting the curse on me so often that I had started to scar, and that was what Longbottom had just seen.

Laying in a bed in the ward, I contemplated the events that just took place during dinner. Scorpius was being very clingy as I talked to Ana and Lauren, as if he was scared that I was making plans without him. When we were starting on dessert, Albus Potter looked at me from the Gryffindor table and winked, much to Scorpius' annoyance.

"_Why is Potter winking at you?" He hissed angrily, his grip on my arm tightening as he pressed his nails into my skin. _

"_I don't know. He's a prick; he's just stirring up shit for us." I whispered back as I tried to keep my cool. This was starting to become a habit; Scorpius was getting more paranoid every time he was violent because he knew that he was losing me. I used to cry at this thought as Scorpius used to be loving, but the pressure being put on him by his father was putting a lot of strain on him. I've thought about breaking up with him, but I would just shiver at the thought of what Scorpius would do to me._

"_I'm going to show him a piece of my mind." Scorpius got out of his seat briskly, and stomped over to Albus Potter, who looked pleased with himself. I ran over in fear as I knew what could happen in a matter of seconds. _

"_What do you think you're doing, Potter?" Scorpius yelled as he dragged Albus out of his seat by his robes. "Are you jealous that I'm getting some and you're not? Jealous that I can get a girlfriend and you can't?" _

_While trying to pull Scorpius away from Albus, Scorpius pushed me away roughly and I fell onto the floor with a deafening thud, hitting my head on the Gryffindor table. _

"_Scorpius! Step away from Mr Potter now." Professor Longbottom shouted, standing next to Professor Lovegood and McGonagall. Rose rushed to my aid and helped me up from the floor as I held my head helplessly, feeling a sticky substance from the place that had taken most of the strain._

"_Come with me Miss Rennie. Let's go to the hospital wing." Professor McGonagall whispered kindly as she put her arm around me and pulled me out of the Great Hall. The sound of Scorpius and Professor Longbottom arguing was enough to make me look back at the argument that took place. Scorpius was being held back by another sixth year while he hurled insults at Albus and Professor Longbottom. _

"_Come away dear." Professor McGonagall pulled me away with slightly more force and I started to feel dizzy. Scorpius would be in a lot of trouble, and he would most likely be suspended. For the first time in our relationship, I started to feel relieved that I might be getting a break from Scorpius._

_Starting to get tingles in my fingers, I knew something was very, very wrong. "Professor," I gasped; she looked at me with worry strewn over her aged features. "I can't breathe." I took another gasp and collapsed to the floor, but I could still hear the worried shouts from McGonagall. _

It was now past midnight and I was forced to stay in the ward for further observation. The new school nurse was Madame Felix and she wasn't as kind as the previous school nurse Madame Pomfrey, who had left for retirement. I knew that I was in for a lot of questions tomorrow morning…when I was taken to the hospital wing they examined for further injuries as I fainted. They found more than they bargained for when they saw the deep scars all over my body and the occasional bruise.

"I don't know how she got those bruises Miss Felix. Her mother is adamant that she had no scars when she left for Hogwarts. I can't help but worry it has something to do with Scorpius Malfoy…" I could hear Professor McGonagall whisper hoarsely. I shut my eyes quickly as I pretended to be asleep.

"Please be reasonable." Professor Thorn droaned. Professor Thorn was the head of Slytherin house, therefore very close to Draco Malfoy. "Scorpius wouldn't do such a thing. Miss Rennie and himself are romantically involved, and have been for a while now. Why would he inflict such a thing on Miss Rennie?"

I felt like scoffing, he probably knew it was Scorpius, but he couldn't let Scorpius get a speck of dirt on his squeaky clean record.

"I understand that they are in a relationship Professor Thorn, but why should that mean he wouldn't do it? I don't mean to sound prejudice but his father was involved with Vo-Voldemort. Who is to say that anything has changed?"

"As much as I appreciate the fact that you are head mistress of Hogwarts, but you are being utterly ridiculous; Scorpius is innocent."

I could hear Professor Thorn walking away swiftly but Professor McGonagall had obviously stopped him as his footsteps stopped. "I have suspended Scorpius, Professor Thorn…and my decision is final. I will find out what has happened to Miss Rennie, and until then Scorpius won't be in this school."

"You are foolish." Professor Thorn hissed.

"Maybe I am. However, it is my duty to protect my students, and my instinct tells me that Scorpius should not be at Hogwarts at the current time. He has been horrid to many students and teachers, and this is the final straw. I suggest you go to bed Professor Thorn." Professor Thorn huffed and stormed off. "I know you are awake Miss Rennie." I opened my eyes and saw Professor McGonagall staring over me in her nightgown. "Those scars…they are from the Sectumsempra curse, am I correct?"

I nodded slowly, "But it wasn't Scorpius. He wouldn't do that to me." I lied as I mentally kicked myself. This was my chance to tell everyone of what Scorpius was capable of, but I was still fearful of what he could do to me.

"I'm sure it wasn't." She smiled but it didn't reach her eyes…it was as if she was smiling in disbelief and she thought I was some hopeless case. I probably was for protecting him, Scorpius was supposed to love and protect me. I wanted the person that I fell in love with, the person that I met in third year.

"Get some sleep now child, you need it." McGonagall made her way out of the ward and said goodbye to Miss Felix, who was going to bed herself.

I smiled as she left but when I found myself alone other than a few other sleeping students, I stared up at the ceiling in turmoil. What was I going to do? I couldn't stay with Scorpius if he remained the same violent, paranoid and controlling person that he is now, he would have to change and I would help him. I wasn't going to let him hurt and abuse me, despite how scared I was of him. My father would be disappointed in me, even though I was hardly happy with him for being in Azkaban but he was brought up to worship the work of Voldemort. However, he's in a prison and hopefully learning the error of his ways.

Finally feeling my eyes start to droop, I let myself go unconscious with sleep.

"Morning Miss Rennie! You should get going to classes soon, your head is perfectly fine and you're all healed!" Miss Felix said cheerfully, shaking me awake. I slowly sat up and rubbed the back of my head, relieved to feel that there were no lumps and bumps.

"Thank you Miss Felix." I got out of bed and shut the curtains to get dressed into my uniform, which was conveniently neatly folded on the visitor's chair next to the bed. I changed quickly and left in a rush for the Slytherin common room; I needed to see if Scorpius was still there though I doubt that it was a good idea. Making my way down the stairs and through the dungeons, I tried to ignore the feeling of worry in my stomach. What had become of our relationship? Why did I let him change who I once was?

I rushed through the portrait hole and was shocked to see Scorpius tugging his trunk down the stairs of his dorm. His eyes looked puffy but the rough expression written on his face showed that he didn't want anyone to talk to him. He looked over at me after saying his goodbyes to his other friends, but when his eyes met mine an awkward silence filled the room, his eyes looked emotionless.

"All of you get out; I need to have a word with Marcia." Scorpius growled, everyone left immediately apart from some first years, and Scorpius glared at them until they scurried off through the portrait hole for breakfast.

I gulped when we were alone, "I'm really sorry Scorpius-"

Scorpius ran up to me, making me gasp and my eyes widened but I soon shut my eyes when I felt him pull me close and kiss my neck gently. I had missed this a lot; this was something he used to do whenever he was upset but lately he'd been more rough.

"I'm so sorry Marcia. I shouldn't have been so horrid to you. You're my everything and the only good thing in my life." I put my arms around his neck, kissing his damp cheek. "My father is furious that I'm suspended and I have no idea what he's going to do to me. He sent a howler and I got it this morning…I've never been so scared of him Marcia."

I pulled back slightly to face him and held his tearful face, "You'll be okay. I promise you that." I gave him a quick but meaningful kiss, "I love you Scorpius."

"I love you too Marcia." Scorpius kissed me back but more forcefully, we remained that way as if we weren't going to see each other for months. This was the person that I fell in love with, the open and loving Scorpius that I met a few years ago.

"In fact Marcia, I've got a question to ask you…I've been thinking about for a few months and it's definitely what I want." Scorpius paused and took my hand, "When we leave…will you be my wife?"

Without thinking, I took a step back and stared at him in shock. I could forgive him with time, but a proposal?! It all felt too soon, and this was the first time we'd been close for a while now. There must be another reason for his change in behaviour, besides he'd been flirting with other girls. Was I ready to make a commitment to the person who flirts with others and hurts me when his father hurts him?

"I d-don't know Scorpius. This is big." I subconsciously bit my nail as I thought hard, "Why now? We've hardly been close for a while now, especially after last night…"

"I know Marcia. I shouldn't have pushed you, I was just so angry at Albus, that good for nothing Potter. I'll show him-" I gave him a stern look and his angry face changed back to calm. "I know that I've been flirting with other girls, but seeing Potter look at you like that reminded me of how lucky I am to have you. I've been taking you for granted but not anymore. We'll leave in seventh year and get married straightaw-"

"I haven't said yes yet Scorpius. I'm only 16, how can you expect me to agree to a big commitment like marriage?!" I stared in disbelief, the fear I had once felt had gone and I wasn't going to be bullied into marriage.

"What, so you're saying no? I thought you loved me Marcia!"

"So that means we have to get married?" I could see that he was getting angry but I didn't care at that point, Scorpius was still as clingy as ever.

"Yes! That's what people in love do, don't they?" Scorpius yelled.

I pulled back my sleeve in a fit of anger and revealed the thick scar to Scorpius, who didn't look phased. "Is that love?" I shouted back, pulling up the other sleeve and showing the many bruises that Scorpius had also inflicted on me.

"You're making a big mistake Marcia." He grabbed my arms and pulled the sleeves down. "Good day. I hope you see sense when I get back."

"If you get back…" I mumbled under my breath, inaudible to Scorpius who was already making his way out of the common room. I felt seething with anger, he probably only proposed to save his own skin. His father wanted us both to get married but I hadn't agreed to it, and Scorpius was hoping that if I accepted, his father wouldn't be so hard on him. How dare he? How could he utter those three words without any remorse over what he's done?

"_I love you." _My heart still fluttered whenever he said it, but I don't believe it. So much has changed over the past two months; there must be something behind all the flirting and abuse. Do I still love Scorpius? How could I when he used horrid curses on me just to heal me again to save his own skin. Feeling suddenly claustrophobic, I left the common room in a desperate bid to clear my aching head. I walked aimlessly to the Great Hall, holding my head as it throbbed painfully and looking at my feet as I took each step-

_*Oomph.* _I fell onto the floor with the impact and grimaced as the pain intensified. "Watch where you're going you idiot-" I looked up to the person that I had bumped in to, which happened to be Professor Longbottom.

"You were the one looking at the floor." Longbottom said matter-of-factly, but he soon very concerned. "Are you okay?"

"No I am not okay. My head…" I felt that I didn't need to say anymore as he nodded and pulled me up.

"Have you got a free period this morning?"

I frowned, "Yes, why?" How had this got anything to do with my head?

"How about we get started on your tutoring?" He started walking and beckoned me to follow him.

"Urm…okay." I started following him as we walked out and through the courtyard. "What will I be learning first, sir?"

"I'm not sure yet, but most likely third year stuff…and Marcia?" He looked back at me with a slightly raised eyebrow. I looked up expectantly, "Call me Neville during tutoring lessons. Sir sounds too formal for my liking."

I smiled but hid it with my hand, I knew that I was going to like these tutoring lessons- Neville seemed like a really cool guy…

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I know it's unlikely for Professors/Teachers to let students call them by their first name, but it was quite annoying after a while writing 'Professor Longbottom' over and over. Well anyway, I hope you enjoyed the first two chapters. I will post them up at the same time. I'M REALLY SORRY IF THERE ARE ANY MISTAKES. I will edit them **_**VERY**_** soon.**

**Please review. ~HereGoesMyReputation**


	3. Chapter 3

**Song: **Enchanted **by **Taylor Swift

**Chapter 3**

While we were walking up the greenhouses, we talked non-stop. We talked about pointless things but the conversation continued to flow, Neville told me some stories when he was at school and I listened intently. To my amazement, I've never felt so comfortable when around someone else, let alone a Professor. When the door of the greenhouse came into view, I felt slightly disappointed when our conversation had to stop. Neville unlocked the door and we both walked in to a surprisingly cool greenhouse.

"Do you not have a class this period?" I asked, realising that my headache had gone.

"Yeah, but Professor Sprout insists on taking it herself. She feels useless now she's only working part-time, this is probably her last year here, you know."

I sat down at the table in front of his desk and took off my robes, "So what will I be doing?"

"You can grow a mandrake. I know you had a lesson on them in your first year, but it's completely different when you're growing one from a seed." He put down an empty plant pot, a bag of soil and two large seeds, both with faces that moved around. "They have faces from a seed…quite strange but fascinating all the same."

They were making a high pitched sound, but because they were so small it was hardly noticeable. That would change when they started to grow…

I stood up reluctantly and placed the two seeds into the bottom of the empty plant pot and poured in a few handfuls of compost, but Neville quickly stopped me. "Whoa, don't do that!" Neville took the seeds out of the pot, "They need to be between two layers of soil or they won't grow properly." He put the soil back into the bag.

I looked down embarrassedly, "This is hopeless. How am I going to improve when I can't even plant something properly?" I said childishly as I sat back down.

Neville looked at me sympathetically, "It's early days yet Marcia. Yes, you may be a bit behind-" Very behind, I thought. "-but at least you knew to put two seeds in. Most only put one in."

"That's just common sense. Everyone knows that it's sexual reproduction and all that crap." My eyes widened, did I just mention something like that to a Professor?

"Y-yes, th-that's right." Neville's cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "H-however, not many would know that."

I sighed and stood back up again, "You know, it doesn't help that you're standing there watching over me like that." Neville chuckled and sat at his desk marking some papers.

After some failed attempts, I managed to successfully plant a mandrake. I felt like such an idiot doing something that I should have learnt in third year. Neville and I left the greenhouse as soon as I was done, and we once again managed to withhold a conversation on the way back to the school building.

"You don't have to answer this if you don't want to Marcia…but do you have any idea of why you are more behind than others in your year?" Neville asked, or Professor Longbottom as our tutoring session was finished.

I took a deep breath and contemplated on whether I should tell him or not, "Let's just say my friends aren't exactly into learning Herbology…or any other subject for that matter."

"How would that affect you, exactly?" He frowned.

I could feel my frustration rising, "Well whenever I showed any sort of interest in any subject they would tease the shit out of me. That answer your question?" I snapped as I walked more quickly to avoid talking to Neville any longer. I started to jog when I heard him calling me back, but I seemed to forget that I had a pile of textbooks under my arm that Neville had given me. They fell out of my grasp and landed on the grass with a thud. I sighed when I realised that I couldn't leave my books behind and I stopped to collect them. Neville would catch up with me in no time…

"Why did you run off Marcia?"

"Why do you think?" I said angrily as I picked up all my books.

"Don't be embarrassed Marcia, and don't speak to me like that. I am your Professor." Neville reminded me. For some stupid reason, I had forgotten that over the past hour.

"I'm sorry…" I mumbled sheepishly, "but I should be getting to class now or I'll be late, so I'll see you in Herbology."

"You still have tutoring at 8 o'clock remember." Neville said, "Go to the Library and we'll find some other books for you to read."

"Yes sir." I whispered as I started walking away. I had Potions next with Professor Thorncroft, which will be fun…not.

Professor Thorncroft gave me dirty looks throughout the whole of Potions, and it definitely wasn't because of my work because that was the only subject that I was doing well in. Ana and I worked together and we had to make liquid death, which would usually easy, but Professor Thorncroft's evil glares were enough to make me slip up.

"Okay, put in one spoonful of dragon's blood…but it doesn't say what spoon to use." Ana read out the instructions from the book, leaving me even more confused.

"What spoon should we use then?" I asked as I opened to the jar of dragon blood. I quickly looked up at Professor Thorncroft who was unsurprisingly still staring at me, as if he was waiting for me to mess up.

"Just use that one." Ana pointed at the largest one with a strong sense of insecurity.

"Are you sure?" I asked unsure, this was a big gamble. She nodded slowly.

I picked up the large spoon and my hands shook as I felt Professor Thorncroft still staring at me. After I poured the blood into the spoon, I poured the blood into the cauldron.

"Wait, that's the wrong one!" Ana shouted, but it was too late. The cauldron had already started bubbling angrily and had turned a brown colour. Sparks of fire leapt out of the cauldron, centimetres away from touching my face. Professor Thorncroft walked over angrily and pushed Ana and me out of the way.

"You children are useless. Everyone can just leave; I've had enough of all of you. Marcia you have a detention with me at 7 o'clock."

I opened my mouth to argue but the look on his face shut me up.

"I don't care if that's during dinner. Maybe then you'll think twice before wasting our resources and failing to follow instructions." He spat. I picked up my bag and followed everyone else out of the classroom, Scorpius' dad was obviously pissed at Thorncroft so now Thorncroft is pissed at me.

"I think Thorncroft has a thing for you!" Ana said as she walked up to me, twirling her hair with her fingers.

"How did you work that out when he just gave me a detention? Besides, he's a Professor."

"Yeah, but he was looking at you throughout the whole lesson. He couldn't keep his eyes of you." Ana grinned, turning the heads of many admirers, "Who cares if he's a Professor? Older guys are way more mature…and Thorncroft is by far the best looking."

I nodded as I thought of Professor Longbottom; he was good looking in my opinion. His mousey brown hair, hazel eyes and gleaming white teeth were a definite bonus. Thorncroft was a heart throb to most of the Slytherin girls, which I definitely disagreed with considering his spiky black hair and a mouth that rarely moved from its permanent line. He was not my idea of a heart throb.

As the clock was nearing 7 o'clock, I left Ana in the Great Hall for my detention with Professor Thorncroft. I had already had dinner and the lessons before that were rather uneventful. I made my way through the dungeons into Professor Thorncroft's classroom, which had a strange and wary feel about it. Thorncroft was sitting at his desk writing with his jet black quill.

"Ah, she arrives. Sit down please Miss Rennie, you will be writing lines for the first 15 minutes and then I will decide what else for you to do…" He rose from his seat and sauntered over to a table, "Sit."

I walked over and sat down quickly, this felt extremely uncomfortable. He put down a piece of parchment and smirked as he looked me up and down. "You and Scorpius make a good couple." I fidgeted as I felt even more uncomfortable.

"Urm…thanks Sir." I said quietly, pulling out my quill and ink. "W-what should I write?"

"I must listen in lessons." Thorncroft replied silkily; he walked back to his desk.

I had a good 20 minutes of peace before Professor Thorncroft started to talk to me, "You can take off your robe if you want Marcia. I understand that it's quite hot in here." The way he said my name was strange, and the look on his face was unnerving.

"I'm quite alright thank you Sir." I whispered. _Creep, _I thought. My stomach rumbled quietly. I didn't get to eat much at dinner, and it would be over now so I couldn't go back.

"You can stop writing lines now Miss Rennie." He walked back over to my table and took my paper, making our skin touch.

"It must be tough…" Thorncroft began, "Being with Scorpius."

I looked up at him and he stared back into my eyes, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, he can't satisfy a strong…" He grabbed my chin and pushed it up so I faced him, "beautiful girl like you." This was wrong and I knew it. I felt sick to the stomach.

"I can make you happy Marcia. I know what you really want." He jumped forward and crushed our lips together, pulling me up from my seat roughly so I was standing. He was trying to force his tongue into my mouth, making me want to gag. This was disgusting, but he was too strong for me to get away.

"Stop!" I tried to shout, but he kept our lips together and he pulled me closer. I stared punching his chest but he just held them tightly in his hands…there was no way out.

"Stupefy!" I saw a flash of red light hit Thorncroft and he fell limply to the ground. I grabbed the table to stop myself from falling, as I felt my whole body go weak. I looked to the door and saw Neville, who looked blind with rage.

"Are you okay Marcia?" He ran over and kicked Thorncroft out of the way. "What happened?"

I could feel myself start to cry, "I had a detention and he was being w-weird…and then he k-k-kissed me." I stuttered as I hopelessly tried to stop myself from crying.

It was no use as I started to sob uncontrollably and I could hear Neville sigh as he hugged me gently. I couldn't stop myself blushing as I cried; we were so close. "We should go to Professor McGonagall." Neville said quietly, and I nodded as I pulled away. I wiped my tears away, picked up my bag and followed Neville out of the room. The night felt very peculiar, the dungeon looked darker than ever, and for the first time, I felt scared of the unknown. I was never scared easily when I was younger, so this was a tell-tale sign that what Thorncroft had just done made a bigger effect on me than I wanted it to.

Neville walked me up a number of steps that eventually led to McGonagall's office. "Gumdrop." Neville said loudly. The door started to open slowly, but Professor McGonagall was already by the door.

"What on earth has happened to you Miss Rennie?" She asked, but she obviously didn't expect an answer as she pulled us both into her office.

"Professor Longbottom, would you know what has happened to Miss Rennie?" She sat me down in the visitor's chair at her desk and put her hand on my shoulder comfortingly.

"Yes…Marcia had a detention with Professor Thorncroft in his classroom, and I was heading down there to meet Professor Thorncroft myself to give him some gillyweed for his next lesson. I was able to retrieve the gillyweed because I have access to Professor Slughorn's cupboard-"

"You're going slightly off topic Neville." McGonagall spoke sternly, raising an eyebrow.

Neville gulped, his nervousness would be laughable if it wasn't for what he was trying to explain. "Yes, sorry…when I got to his classroom, he was-" Neville paused abruptly, "…forcing himself upon Miss Rennie. She was extremely distressed and for her safety, I stunned Professor Thorncroft. He is still in his classroom."

Professor McGonagall looked down at me sympathetically, but anger and shock was evident in her gaze. "You poor girl. Neville please go and get Professor Thorncroft and bring him here immediately, I will take Marcia to the hospital ward, I think it would be best if she was checked and under supervision of Madame Felix."

Neville stared at me for a few seconds before leaving to get Thorncroft. McGonagall put her arm on my shoulder and lured me out of her office and to the hospital ward, where I would face another shocked face belonging to Madame Felix.

"Oh, you poor child!" She said after McGonagall told her what happened, "Come on, get into bed and I'll get the sleeping potion. You'll have a dreamless sleep, don't you worry." She put me into the hospital bed and tucked me in like a mother would. She may be an old bag sometimes, but she was kind when she wanted to be. Madame Felix returned with the sleeping potion and poured it into a goblet.

"Drink up, honey." I drank the potion and my head fell onto the pillow sleepily. The ward was getting hazy and it was getting harder to stay awake, but I eventually my body gave up and I fell asleep.

It was now the next day and I had left the ward; I silently wished that I would leave the nightmare of last night there too. Everyone at the Slytherin table heard of Scorpius' and me arguing, so they ignored me during breakfast and lunch. I didn't really care though; I was hardly in the mood for conversing with some idiots who only like me because I'm with Scorpius. I was now sitting on my lonesome at dinner – my friends had left briefly before that without a goodbye. No-one had asked about last night, so I presumed that no one knew about what happened…however, that was very, very untrue.

"Hey Marcia!" A seventh year Slytherin chucked at piece of bread at my head, and I gave him a death glare in return.

"How was Thorncroft last night?" His friends all laughed, but my mouth turned dry. "Is he a good kisser?"

Before I could stop my anger from worsening, I stood up and stormed over to where he was sitting. I pulled his hair forcefully and his head fell back with the force. "Who do you think you are?" I hissed, pulling his hair harder when he gave me a dirty look.

"Get off me you slut." He muttered pathetically, pretending that I wasn't hurting him.

I tugged with an almighty pull and he backwards onto the floor. "Call me that again and you'll regret it…_mudblood_."

People started to gasp; the word 'mudblood' was banned on the school premises. I had never used it before intentionally, but the anger that bubbled inside me was relieved when I said it. However, I soon started to regret it when a furious Professor Longbottom huffed over to our table.

"You are in big trouble Rennie!" He gripped my wrist harshly and pulled me out of the Great Hall, but he left the seventh year on the floor which provided some, but little satisfaction.

"I can't believe you'd say such a thing!" He hissed as he pulled me through some groups of students. He held a firm grip on my wrist while pulling me through a number of corridors, eventually leading us to the greenhouses.

"You will be having a detention until I feel that you have learned your lesson." He opened the glass door and finally released my wrist. I gave him a horrified look as I rubbed my sore wrist. There was a rumour going around Hogwarts that the last time a Professor said that, a student had their lines engraved into their skin until it scarred for life.

He noticed my worrying, "Don't be silly Marcia. I won't be resorting to any violence…" I released a sigh of relief, "Unlike what you have just done."

I looked up embarrassedly, Neville (or Professor Longbottom) had always been generally nice and he hadn't told me off yet, until now obviously. I've been in trouble before, but I never really cared about it.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been violent and said what I said, but I just felt _**so**_ angry. I wasn't finished with him and it scares me to think of what I could have done if it wasn't in front of everyone…" I stared away sadly, it was true. I have been angry before, but the anger I felt in the Hall was something that I had never experienced before.

Neville looked down at me tiredly, "What am I going to do with you Marcia? I want you to succeed, but how are you going to do that when you're throwing insults and hitting someone if they say something you don't like."

"You should have heard what he said to me Professor. He was talking about…last night." I found that my mouth had gone dry again, and my eyes were starting to water.

Neville sighed, "I know that you've been through so much in just a few months, but you need to learn that taking it on people won't help. I should know..." He looked away from my gaze and leant on his desk as if he was feeling dizzy.

I looked at him worriedly and placed my hand on his desk, as if it was somehow comforting. He looked at my hand and shut his eyes quickly. "My parents were tortured into insanity…by Bellatrix Lestrange, her husband and Barty Crouch Jr. They...f-forgot that I was their s-son." I saw a single tear drop onto his desk, but he briskly recovered and wiped it away.

"I'm sorry…" I whispered speechlessly; Bellatrix was undeniably evil but torturing a couple with a child into insanity? That was something that I didn't want to think about.

"Everyone is." Neville smiled weakly and sniffed, "Anyway, the point is, I felt really low about it and I still do. However, a wise head master once told me and many others that happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, when one only remembers to turn on the light. It may not seem relevant, but just remember it works for anything. If you are feeling sad, or alone just remember that there is help, and a better time coming…Go on, you should go Marcia. Forget about your detention, just don't do it again."

I smiled at him warmly, and turned back to leave. "Thanks, sir."

"No problem Rennie."

**A/N:** I hope you liked this chapter. I started it a few weeks ago, but I finally finished it. School started a few days ago, so updates may be random and late. I will try to make them regular and often though. **PLEASE** review, I'd really appreciate it because I kind of need some help on improving. Thank you **lily1994 **for your review :D

**~HereGoesMyReputation**


	4. Chapter 4 - Falling Hard

**Falling For You **by **Busted**

**Chapter 4**

It was now early December, and things were slowly starting to improve. I still had my daily tutoring lessons with Longbutt and I was finally progressing. Although, I was still quite far behind in class, but Neville seems quite happy with my progress so I gave myself a break on things surround Herbology. Thorncroft finally handed in his notice- forced by McGonagall. Ana and I were getting along well too, so basically ever since Scorpius was suspended, things have started to improve.

"Hello?" Ana called out to me, "Earth to Marcia?"

We were both in potions, apparently making liquid death according to what was written on the blackboard. I looked up at Ana, who was stirring a murky brown substance in her cauldron. "What were you saying?"

Ana rolled her eyes, "I was _asking _if you were staying at school for Christmas, because I was wondering if you'd want to stay at mine for a few days. Father wouldn't mind, he's never there anyway."

Staring into my own cauldron thoughtfully, I twirled my already curly hair round my fingers. I wanted to go to Ana's, but mother would never let me go. She never liked Ana's parents or Ana for that matter. I knew I was going to have to be firm with her; she never takes no for an answer.

I gave her an uncertain look, "I don't think I'd be allowed Ana. I'm really sorry, I really want to but you know my mother. She's been wary of everyone I know ever since father was…you know."

"Can't you do anything other than precious Mummy's wishes?" Anastasia spat, her piercing blue eyes glaring back at me. "Don't come to mine then, I'll ask Lauren. She might appreciate it a bit more than a stuck up bitch like you."

I stared after her with my mouth gaping as Ana walked out of Potions, her bleach blonde hair flying behind her. While I was staring at her in shock, many of the boys were staring after her in awe; Ana was half Veela so the attention was natural for her.

"Marcia, your potion!" Professor Slughorn yelled as he rushed over. I looked down at my cauldron, the thick liquid was bubbling and my cauldron was starting to melt. I used a spell to put out the fire, but Slughorn looked far from impressed.

"You've always been talented at Potions Marcia so I have no idea what has gotten into you." He pulled out his wand and pointed it at the liquid, "_Tergeo_." The potion started to evaporate until it was non-existent.

"I'm really sorry Sir, I got distracted." I grimaced at the state of my cauldron; it was hardly fit for use anymore.

Professor Slughorn gave me a concerned look, "Hm, okay. I hope this doesn't happen again, understood?" I nodded briskly, "You're usually one of the best students, so I let you off this time. I know that Professor Thorncroft used to teach this class but-"

He stopped talking abruptly and rubbed his eyes as I felt the whole room go quiet. Everyone knew about what happened now, and people believed my story this time. "I apologise Marcia…now go on everyone, you can go. We'll test your potions next lesson."

I picked up my bag and left in a rush; I had Herbology next and it was last lesson, so I was having my tutoring session straight afterwards.

When I reached the greenhouse, a strange sense of dread filled my mind. Neville and I were having a lot of heart to hearts lately, and it was bizarre to think that he was my professor. He was far more like a friend than anything else, but the dread that I felt was getting harder to ignore. I couldn't help but think that we were getting _too_ close, especially since I was his student. I couldn't do any deep thinking anymore as Longbutt had made his appearance.

"Hello class," Neville smiled sadly, "Come in and get on with your projects you have been working on."

I frowned slightly as the greenhouse slowly filled up with chattering teenagers. Neville was acting quite sombre, and his usually bouncy stride was now a solemn stroll. I didn't want to ask him during class because that would bring up questions, and the attention would be the last thing I need. Instead, I worked on my project about water plants and kept to myself, only giving one word answers to Rose's questions. After what seemed like hours, I looked up at the clock and realised that we were 10 minutes past the end of the lesson.

"Sir?" I began, "The lesson finished 10 minutes ago."

Neville looked up at the clock and sighed tiredly. "Sorry class, off you go. I'm very sorry about this, just leave your things behind and I'll clear it up for you."

The class left quickly, muttering under their breaths in annoyed tones. I purposely stayed behind the rest of the group, and by the time they had gone, I rushed over to Longbutt's desk.

"What's wrong?" I asked worriedly, chucking my bag onto the floor and sitting in the seat by his desk.

"Nothing. Just go Marcia...You're too young to understand anyway" Neville muttered; he walked round the classroom picking up what was left behind.

I tried to cover up how hurt I felt; he's never picked up on my age before and it was startling to see how annoyed he was. "I'm not an idiot Neville." I spat, "I may be younger than you but who are you to say whether I'll understand or not? I thought you were different compared to all the other teachers, but you're just the same."

I huffed my way through the desks, but Neville grabbed my arm.

"I'm sorry Marcia, please forgive me. I've just…been having a tough time at the moment." Neville looked at me intently. He looked completely exhausted; he had bags under his eyes and his face looked sullen and pale.

I wanted to pull away and leave with saying a word, but the desperation in his eyes was too much to ignore. We stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds until it became far too awkward.

"You look a mess," I chuckled nervously as I looked away.

"Thanks," Neville grumbled, "How about we go to the Herbology staff room?"

"There's a Herbology staff room?" I asked intrigued, this was news to me.

"Yeah, it's mainly because the greenhouses are quite far away from the other staff room, and there are more Herbology professors. It's quite small, but it's good enough." He lead me through to the staff room and we sat down in the plump armchairs. Plants were scattered everywhere, some were hanging from the ceiling or in decorated plant pots, and the walls were a pale green. There were four small armchairs and a bookcase in one corner, this room was definitely small but it was cosy and inviting.

"Why haven't you showed me this before?" I asked as I looked around in amazement.

Neville watered a plant using his wand, "Well it's usually being used so I can't show you then, can I? No one is using it now because they've gone down for dinner."

I never felt more comfortable with a teacher, especially in a staff room. This felt strange to me, "Now…" I paused, "What's wrong?"

Longbutt shuffled uncomfortably, "Gran's...died."

"She's…died?" I said pathetically, Neville's gran was a big part of his life; she looked after him throughout his childhood.

Neville nodded, "She died yesterday at St Mungos. She knew that she was on her last legs so she put herself there to be close to mum and dad…" He paused quickly and his face screwed up. I knew he was about to cry but I wasn't sure of what to do. He bent over slightly to put his head in his hands and started to sob loudly, it sounded like he'd been holding it in for some time. I got up quietly and sat on the arm rest of his chair while he sobbed uncontrollably. Should I comfort him? I had a silent debate in my mind, if I comforted him that would be overstepping the student/teacher boundary, but surely this was different? The poor man was sobbing his heart out…but I still couldn't convince myself that this was right.

'_Just do it…_' I thought to myself. Grimacing at the thought of Neville's reaction, I gingerly put my arm around his shoulder comfortingly. He stirred slightly when my arm was fully round his shoulders but he soon carried on crying. I moved slightly closer until the side of my body was leaning against his and his crying started to cease.

"T-thanks Marcia…"Neville got up slowly and wiped his puffy eyes, "I'm sorry you had to see that."

I got off the chair and stared up into his watery eyes, "Don't be sorry, you only lost her yesterday, you're bound to cry."

Neville smiled slightly, "You're a good person Marcia, don't forget that."

"Urm…thanks." I blushed as I put my fringe behind my ear. We were very close but it didn't seem to both either of us.

"You know, you're more of a friend than a student Marcia…and that scares me." Neville looked down slightly and his smile started to falter.

"Why does that scare you?" I asked, despite the answer being very obvious.

Neville chuckled hoarsely, "Don't worry Marcia, and ignore me. It's definitely the grief talking." He moved around as if he was uncomfortable. "You should go, you'll miss dinner."

"Yeah," I paused, "See you…" I walked out of the staff room and the classroom. My stomach grumbled loudly, begging me for some food, but I wasn't going to dinner. I had too much to think about, and it's all because of Professor Longbottom.

**A/N: This is a short chapter and I was going to make it longer, but as I have so much homework (year 10 is not fun…) I'm going to write shorter chapters so there more regular, unless you would rather have longer chapters and I'll update less often. Please tell me **** Anyway, thank you** '_itremindsyou' _**for reviewing. PLEASE REVIEW! :D**

**~HEREGOESMYREPUTATION**


	5. Chapter 5 - First Kiss

**ONE DIRECTION – LAST FIRST KISS**

**Chapter 5**

Looking over the snow covered grounds of Hogwarts; I sighed deeply and shuffled around to keep warm. I was sitting on the window sill in my dormitory on my own on Christmas Day…isn't this how all teenagers want to spend their Christmas?

It hadn't been long since Neville had his mini breakdown, and things had been strange since then; he was being distant and delaying the tutoring sessions. I understood why he wanted some space; it wasn't every day that a professor would burst into tears while talking to you. Despite the obvious reasoning for the space, I still felt angry that he had ignored me for two weeks. Surely, he can't break down in front of me and then ignore me?

I jumped at the sight of an owl flying through the window into my deserted dormitory. I recognised it to be Kibble, my trustworthy owl.

"Thank you Kibble." I cooed as I took the letters from him. He hooted his response and flew back out into the grounds. Looking down at my letters, I saw nothing out of the usual; I had my letter from mother, Ana and Scorpius. I skimmed through them absentmindedly and stopped at an unusual fourth letter, when had I ever gotten four letters at Christmas?

I opened the letter with a strong sense of uncertainty, the letter opened easily and a small piece of parchment fell out of the envelope.

'_Dear Marcia, _

_I must see you straightaway, and I apologise for asking for this on such a day. Meet me by the lake at 9 o'clock, as fewer will be awake. _

_Merry Christmas._

_Professor Longbottom'_

Frowning slightly, I read through the letter again and again, hoping for any details of why we should talk to appear. I looked at my alarm clock, which read half 8, which meant that I had half an hour to get myself decent.

I tamed my hair into a French plait, pulled on a pair of skinny jeans, a Christmas jumper and pair of old red converses. I didn't look great at such an hour, but it was only a professor…so why did I care?

Making my way up through the dungeons, I smiled at the thought of seeing Longbutt on Christmas Day, wearing a Christmas jumper with his goofy grin. My heart skipped a beat and I started to walk faster, it felt like I hadn't seen him for a long time.

Neville was sitting down on the bank, wearing an old Christmas jumper. His back was facing me and I grinned at my opportunity to make him jump. I walked over the grass and slowed my steps so they were inaudible, I was about to jump out at him before I heard a quiet sniffle. He was crying.

"Sir?" I asked quietly, walking gingerly over to where he was sitting. He looked at me with watery eyes, but he wiped them away quickly and stood up to face me.

"Sorry Marcia, I've just been feeling a bit down." Neville tried to brush it off, but he was failing miserable. I chose to ignore it anyway.

"It's…okay Prof-"

"My name is Neville, Marcia. It's Christmas break so don't worry about referring to me as Professor."

"Sorry, urm…Neville." It felt slightly strange to say his first name out loud. "Why did you ignore me during school? I turned up for tutoring and you were never there…"

Neville scratched the back of his neck, "Sorry about that. After…you know…I felt uncomfortable. I shouldn't have let myself break down like that, especially in front of a student." 

"You didn't have any control over that! Does that excuse the fact that I waited outside the greenhouse every evening because you didn't tell me that you weren't bothering?" I said, enraged.

"I don't have to explain myself to you. You're my student, not my diary." Neville spat. I stared at him, taken aback from his small outburst. "You should go. We're both wasting our time."

I scoffed, "You are such a dick. I'm not going anywhere, this is my school too."

Neville looked over at me, "How dare you speak to me in such a way!" Neville hissed, "I'm-"

"Yes, my professor, I think I've realised that." I gave him a sarcastic smile.

Exasperatedly, he sighed and rubbed his face with his hand. "Just go Marcia…"

"No!" I yelled and stood up, "You can't just tell me all that stuff about you, and burst into tears in front of me and not expect me to be concerned when you avoid me for weeks?"

Neville stood up, "That's the point Marcia! It's because I told you that stuff that I can't see you outside of lessons!"

"What do you mean?" I frowned.

Neville sighed again and we were silent for some time, "I've never told anyone of that stuff before…and I find it weird that I can say all that stuff to one of my students. Don't you think it's strange?"

I shrugged, "I suppose so, but sometimes there are just some people that you're more comfortable with. I just happen to be that person."

"It's still weird though. I've been with some people before, like-"

"Hannah." I said automatically. She was one of his old girlfriends that went to Hogwarts.

Neville smiled fondly, "Yeah, Hannah Abbott. I could never talk to her as easily as I can to you, and I knew her for years…but I've only known you for a few months."

"I don't understand why you're so confused. Why does it matter if you can talk me about all that stuff?"

"Is it really that hard to understand?" Neville asked simply, he took a step closer but we were still a fair distance apart. I raised one brow and looked up at him expectantly.

"I've never felt this way about someone about someone before…" Neville took another step closer.

"What do you mean by that? For crying out loud Neville, can you just spit it out?"

Neville smiled and took yet another step closer. We were close now. I could feel his breath moving the loose strands of hair. I looked at his pale but plump lips, and he licked them briefly. We moved in closer and shut our eyes. I pushed myself forward so our lips met. I felt Neville wrap his arms around my body and I smiled into the kiss. Fireworks were exploding and our lips were fitting together like a puzzle. This was wrong, but it felt so right…

_**WAIT**__. _What was I doing?

I pulled away and slapped Neville hard across his unshaven cheek. Neville looked bewildered for a few moments, but he nodded his head knowingly.

"What on earth was that all about?" I hissed, partly at myself. "You-You're my professor!"

Neville's face fell sadly, "I'm sorry Marcia." I broke into a run for the school. "Please, let me explain!"

But I didn't want to listen. I ran through the courtyard, up the stairs and into my dormitory. I would be alone there. I collapsed onto my bed and started to cry. The sensation from the kiss tingled on my lips and I touched them hopelessly. As wrong as it was, it felt right. I shouldn't feel that way about him but deep down I knew that it was out of my control. I was in love with Professor Longbottom.

**A/N:**** HI :D **

**The ending is a little rushed, but they had their first kiss :o This chapter is a little short, but I didn't want to write much more as the main focus for this chapter was their first kiss. I understand that this may seem quite rushed as it is only the 5****th**** chapter, but I have a plan for this story and it's going to be quite long. There will be many obstacles for this pairing! Anyway, please review **

**~HereGoesMyReputation**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: ****This is just a quickie! I know that the past few chapters have been ridiculously short, but this one will be much longer, and gaps will be filled. I have skipped forward so much in my chapters and I have started to hate it, which is mainly due to bad planning. 'How she realized at last that not even love could justify this, that no affection could, not ever.' – a quote on domestic abuse/or just abuse. **

**I have written a plan out for the next few 10 chapters. **

**Chapter 6 – Fall For You By Secondhand Serene**

Walking through the courtyard to the greenhouses, I constantly slipped on the melting snow from Christmas. Two weeks had passed since Neville and I had kissed, and I still got butterflies whenever I thought about it. Ever since our lips touched, I felt an immediate attachment to him when we were in the same room…it was strange to think that we had to kiss to realise that I love him. Being in love was a strange sensation, the days were brighter, the air was warmer and every day felt like a blessing…it was just a shame that I didn't have anyone to share it with. Longbutt hasn't talked to me since it happened, and it was agonising to have these feelings in secret. Anastasia came back a week ago, and our spat before the holidays was forgotten, so everything was back to normal. Well mostly.

I stopped in my tracks when I saw a familiar but unfriendly owl flying towards me. It dropped a small roll of parchment into my hands and flew away with a large squawk. The parchment was crisp white and tied with a green ribbon, and I knew at an instant who had sent it. Scorpius.

Reluctantly, I unrolled the letter and recognised Scorpius' swirly and neat handwriting.

'_Dear Marcia,_

_I hope that you are well. I also hoped that you would bother to write to your own boyfriend, but you obviously have other affairs to deal with. My father is disappointed at how we left things before I was suspended, but I assured him that we would sort things out. I don't plan to disappoint him again Marcia. So I suggest that you don't disappoint me. _

_Scorpius.'_

I ripped the parchment into shreds and watched it disappear with the wind. Tears threatened to fall but I reminded myself that I was already late for double Herbology, so a sob-fest wasn't going to help with the Longbutt situation. Instead of bursting into tears, I walked to the greenhouses and tried to sneak in unnoticed.

"You're late Miss Rennie." Neville spoke abruptly. I sat down in my seat quickly, but Neville looked back with blank and unfeeling eyes.

"Yes, sorry Sir." I mumbled quietly. I felt everyone stare at me, burning a hole into my back as I blushed helplessly. Neville carried on teaching without a care in the world, as if I was never there. This shouldn't have been a surprise, but I still felt slightly hurt.

"Why were you late Marce?" Rose whispered quietly, her red hair was tied in a braid which rested on her shoulder. Rose and I were getting on really well, and if it wasn't for our houses I'm pretty sure that we'd be best friends. She was genuine and honest person that I could only wish to be.

"I got a letter from Scorpius." I replied, staring down at the wilting plant on my desk.

"And?" Rose asked, her brown eyes stared back at me with concern. I had told her about the situation with Scorpius, and she didn't approve at all.

"He said that his father is disappointed in him because of what happened, which basically means…you know." I said quietly. Rose nodded in recognition; everyone knew that his father was abusive towards his children, just as his father was to him. "And he said that I shouldn't disappoint Scorpius. So I think that he's still really angry at me."

Rose sighed, "You've got to free yourself of him Marcia! My parents have always said that abuse is not love, surely you should know that? Have you not told your mother?"

I scoffed, "Like she'd believe that perfect Scorpius Malfoy could ever do such a thing. She's always told how much she wished for a boy like him, and not a pathetic girl like me."

Looking at me pitifully, Rose rubbed my shoulder comfortingly. "Don't reply to him. He doesn't deserve someone like you. You're a good person-"

"Trust me; I'm not a good person." I laughed in disbelief, "I wish I was. I mean, if I was a good person then why would I be put in Slytherin?"

"Don't forget Snape." Rose smiled, "He was in Slytherin but he risked his safe daily so others could live. Does that sound like a bad person to you?"

"No…I guess not." I sighed in defeat and got on with my work. I felt like I could tell Rose anything, but telling her about Neville was a no-go. After what happened with Thorncroft, I couldn't tell _anyone_ _**anything**_.

The lesson went by slowly, and I was having obvious trouble with my plant.

"Sir?" I put my hand up gingerly, this was going to be awkward but I desperate for help. Neville looked over at me with a blank stare, but carried on with whatever he was writing. He was obviously ignoring me.

"Can you believe him?!" I told Rose, "He looked straight at me and carried on with what he was doing! He knows that I'm useless at Herbology…he's such an idiot." I didn't fully believe it.

"He's not an idiot!" Rose said defensively, "He must have a lot to do, that's all."

"Well, you would say that. Your family are good friends with him aren't they?"

"Yep, and if it wasn't for the age difference I'd have a huge crush on him." Rose blushed, putting loose strands of hair behind her ear.

Feelings of jealousy shot through me, "Oh, really? Why would the age difference matter?"

"Well, he's about 20 years older than me. He's good-looking and everything, but he's a bit too old…" Rose scribbled down some notes while she spoke, and I felt a pang of jealousy when I saw how flawless her skin was, how her eyes were a deep chocolate shade and how sleek her red hair was. I ran my fingers through my black and curly mass of hair, sighing solemnly. My skin was porcelain and plain, while Rose had skin with a sun-kissed glow and the odd group of freckles. I've never felt so unattractive in my life.

"He's hasn't had a girlfriend in years," Rose started again, slightly scowling. "He went out with someone 5 years ago, but he hasn't been with anyone since. Although, my dad says that he's been day-dreaming a lot at the moment, so he thinks that he's found someone. If he has, it's about time!"

I felt a small amount of excitement bubble inside me, and I felt slightly gooey inside. Was he thinking about me? "Who do you think he's thinking about?" I asked, as casual as I could.

"I don't know for sure, but I think there is someone…"

"Who?" I asked, a bit too eagerly.

"Professor Lovegood." Rose smiled matter-of-factly, "I mean, their always together."

I felt the small fire of hope burn out inside me.

The lesson soon ended and I waited behind as I couldn't be bothered to go to Ancient Runes, so I stood by Longbutt's desk patiently.

"Go to your next lesson Marcia." Neville said bluntly, his voice was coarse and tired.

I stared at him in mild shock, "I have a free period…" I lied, "besides, I need to speak to you."

Neville stopped clearing away the rubbish and looked me in the eyes. "Come into the staffroom Marcia."

Following him in the staffroom, I stared at him from behind. He was wearing a chequered sweater vest and loose work trousers that were smeared with soil and plant gunk.

"Sit down." Neville ordered, shutting the door behind him roughly. He sat down on the armchair furthest away from me, it was as if I was the human form of disease.

I gulped and spoke quietly, "You know…what happened?"

"Yes." Neville sighed, "I apologise for what I did. It was extremely wrong of me to do such a thing, and I will regret doing it until the day I die."

Taken aback, I stared back at the tired man sitting in front of him. I could feel tears burning in the back of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. "Oh- okay."

We sat in silence for a few minutes before Neville piped up again, "Marcia?"

"Yes?" I asked, hopeful.

"Please forget about what happened. I really want to…it was a big mistake."

I nodded sadly, "Yes Sir…" I felt a small bubble of anger, "I don't think you should tutor me anymore. It's not like I was learning much from you anyway."

Walking out of the staffroom, I struggled to hold back the tears. I could hear Neville sigh but he didn't look at me as I left…maybe he really did regret it.

Not intending to go to Ancient Runes, I made my way to my common room and sat by the fire. There was no point in the subject, so there was no point in going. The tears began to stream down my cheeks but I didn't try to stop them; I had no energy. Without much warning, the portrait door opened abruptly, revealing Ana and her boyfriend Jedd. He was undeniably stunning, but he wasn't anything that I'd be interested in. He had a definitive jaw-line, dirt-blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, but he treated everyone like the dirt under his shoe.

"What are you doing here?" Ana asked, joining me by the fire. She noticed my tears and heaved a small sigh.

"Jedd, can you give us a moment please?" Ana asked him sweetly, giving him a sickly smile. He rolled his eyes but left anyway.

"Now, what's the matter? Is it Scorpius?" Ana asked, her eyebrows raised past her fringe.

I nodded. It was a lie, but I wasn't going to tell Ana about Longbutt. "I don't want to be with him anymore…but I'm scared of what he'll do."

"What do you mean? You two were perfect for each other. I mean, you had your ups and downs but so does every couple! Why are you scared?"

"He was violent Ana..." I pulled up my sleeve and showed her my scars. She gasped and pulled my sleeve back down. "It was okay at first, he treated me really well, but ever since school started things have gotten bad."

Ana smiled sadly, "It's up to you. I don't think that you should be with him if that's what he's done."

Once again, I nodded. She had said the same thing that Rose had said, and they both had a point. "Thanks Ana." I stood up from the satin chair. "I'm going to go to the Owlery and send a letter. Coming?" I asked her, but she just shook her head.

"Me and Jedd need to talk. I think it's getting serious." She winked and walked with me through the portrait door.

"See you later Ana." I spoke past my shoulder as I walked away. I got a piece of parchment and a quill out of my bag, thinking of what to write to Scorpius.

Once I arrived at the Owlery, I started to write:

_Dear Scorpius, _

_Thank you for your letter. I am sorry but I am going to have to disappoint you. We are not right for each other. You have hurt me, inflicted pain and abuse on me. You are not genuinely sorry, so neither am I for ending this relationship. I wish that this could have ended another way, but you have seen to that. I wish you luck for the future, and I hope that I don't have the misfortune to see you again. _

_Not yours, _

_Marcia. _

I felt slightly pleased with myself over how I wrote it, and rolled it into a small scroll. I called Kibble down and put it in her grasp.

"Deliver it to Scorpius Malfoy. Fly safely."

Kibble flew away gracefully, her large wings flapping effortlessly.

"Who was that to?" Someone asked.

I looked back at where the voice came from and saw James Potter, a seventh year and son of the famous Harry Potter. He had messy black hair, but it looked soft and inviting to touch. His brown eyes stared back at me with a playful sparkle, he was a Gryffindor but we had met a few times before. It was surprising that he wasn't in lesson, but I wasn't going to ask.

"To Scorpius…" I looked up to see James' reaction, unsurprisingly rolling his eyes; most of the Potter family hated the Malfoys.

"Saying what, may I ask?" James raised his eyebrows, brushing a piece of hair out of his eyes.

"If you must know, I was ending things with him. We're over." I smiled with a sense of pride. It was probably a bit cowardly that I sent a letter, but I was hardly going to be seeing him soon…hopefully that time would never come.

James' eyes brightened slightly and he continued to smile, "That's good to know."

While looking at him in slight confusion, my eyes travelled down to his hands, and I noticed a rolled up poster in his hand.

"What's that?" I asked, pointing at the poster. He looked up sheepishly.

"It's just for this band that's playing in Hogsmeade…you've probably never heard of them." James handed over the poster and I unrolled it eagerly. The band was Devil's Snare…my favourite band!

With huge surprise, I flashed a huge grin and gave him back the poster. "Are you joking? Of course I've heard of them, they're awesome! What's your favourite song?"

James's face brightened and he grinned, "Really? I'd say… _You Stole My Cauldron. _Oh, and _This Is The Night_!"

"Same! They're amazing! Who are you going with?" I asked, intrigued. I really wanted to go, but it would have been rude to invite myself.

James smiled weakly, "No-one…none of my friends like them. They just like the _Weird Sisters_, I mean they're great and everything but a bit overrated."

I nodded in agreement but we were submerged in an uncomfortable silence.

"How about you come with me?" James said, his smile returning to his face.

Uncontrollably smiling, I brushed a piece of hair behind my ear. "Yeah, I'd love to! When is it?"

"Tonight. I know it's a bit short notice but I've just got it; one of my friends just owled it to me." James explained, throwing me another of his signature smiles.

I thought about it for a while, would I be allowed to go? "I'd love to…but how are we getting out?"

"I have an invisibility cloak so don't worry about that," James winked, "My father gave it to me, and I have this map that shows all the secret tunnels around school, so no one would know."

Feeling excited at the thought of breaking the rules, I smiled widely, "Okay, that's great! When shall we go?"

"Well the doors open at 7, so shall we go at 6? We could get something to eat at one of the cafés because we'll miss dinner in the hall."

"That's sounds awesome." I grinned, struggling to hide my excitement.

"Cool, meet me by the Gryffindor common room at half 5, it's going to take some time to get to Hogsmeade."

"Okay, see you then. I should probably go back to my common room; I have a lot of homework to do!"

James smiled, "Yeah, I should probably go too. I'll see you later."

He walked off briskly and disappeared down the steps, but I decided to take my time and think over what had just happened. James Potter had just invited me to Hogsmeade! I knew that he was a Gryffindor, but who cares? Yeah, I'd probably get some shit from certain people, especially Ana, but we both liked _Devil's Snare, _and he's the first person I've met who liked them. Now I just had to wait to half 5 to finally see my favourite band in concert. Why does the day go so slow?

**A/N:**** Hope you enjoyed this longer chapter! A decent amount has happened in this chapter, and the story is starting to move along! (FINALLY) Don't worry, there will still be a Neville/Marcia relationship, but Marcia wants to look elsewhere while Neville is acting like a meanie. Anyway, please favourite and review! I'd be happy for any feedback **

**~HereGoesMyReputation**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: quick one: When Marcia and James find the passage way, please assume that no one saw them leave **

**Chapter 7 – Is this…a date?**

**First Date by Blink 182**

Waiting by the Gryffindor common room, I received a large number of dirty looks and glares from the Gryffindor's. However, I had not been tempted to insult them, as that wouldn't be a great start to the night. James had invited me to see _Devil's Snare_, our favourite band, just a few hours ago. That was why I was standing by the portrait hole looking like a complete and utter idiot in a dark green dress at thigh height. Unsurprisingly, it took over an hour to decide what to wear; I finally decided on wearing a velvet skater dress. I suppose that I should have been more discreet… I mean we are sneaking out.

"Well if it isn't the famous Marcia Rennie. How's the father? Still locked up?" Some Gryffindor put his wand to my throat, and I recognised it to be Leonard Griffiths.

Without much care, I nodded at Griffiths and sustained eye contact…which seemed to infuriate him further.

"That serves him right for killing my parents!" Leonard lifted his wand and held it over his head, "Sectum-"

"Leonard? Get away from Marcia!" James shouted, emerging from the portrait hole in a zip-up hoodie and jeans. He pulled out his wand from his pocket and stepped in front of me.

Griffiths stared at James in shock, "Why are you protecting her? That piece of trash-"

"Don't call her that! Just leave Leonard. I'm sorry about your parents, but surely you can understand that it wasn't Marcia who killed them? She can't take responsibility for her father's hatred." James put away his wand and put a hand on Griffiths' shoulder, obviously a comforting gesture.

"Urgh…fine. Just leave then, but make sure you take _that _with you." Leonard nodded towards me, referring to me as _'that'_.

James sighed sadly as Leonard glared at me, but he soon nodded, took my hand and pulled me away from the portrait hole.

"I'm sorry about that…I shouldn't have waited by there; it was too obvious." I blushed as I looked at our intertwined hands, but I couldn't help but wish that it was Neville's hand I was holding. No. I'm not going to think about him- he made his choice.

"Don't be silly. Leonard is just…angry. It's understandable, but he shouldn't have taken it out on you." James coughed awkwardly, "well anyway, you look great."

We smiled at each other as we strolled through various corridors and went up several staircases, but we soon stopped at an old witch statue.

"Is this where the secret passage is?" I asked, slightly confused when I saw James take out his wand from his pocket. I thought they were closed off a decade ago?

James nodded and tapped the statue, "Dissendium."

Miraculously, the statue moved to one side, revealing a small hole for a small person to fit through. That must be the passage.

"Just go through, there's no one around at the moment." James said, looking at a map showing moving footsteps.

I nodded and squeezed through the small gap, but I was soon stuck in what looked to be a dank sewage system. I took my wand out of my bag and put it in front of me, "Lumos."

James stood beside me and did the same with his wand, "It's quite a long way, it's good you're wearing sneakers."

We started walking through the passage and a conversation sparked up.

"So…where do you want to eat?" James asked, zipping up his hoodie.

"Ur-I don't mind. Where do you want to eat?" I grimaced at the awkwardness.

"Well there's this café called Madam Puddifoot's, it's quite nice in there…and I know the family who run it. They have the nicest milkshakes in there; I usually get earwax flavour…weird I know."

"No, I like that too! Ana thinks that I'm a right weirdo for liking it, but I don't care- does that mean we're both weird then?"

James chuckled, "Yeah, I guess so."

Unknowingly, a wave of curiosity washed over me. "Sorry for bringing this up, but why do you skip lessons?"

He sighed, "I just…it's complicated."

"Well, as this passage is so long I think we have a lot of time. I'm listening."

"I don't mean to sound rude Marcia, but it's got nothing to do with you. You're hardly an angel when it comes to attending lessons. You're just a Slytherin." James snapped.

Stopping in my tracks, I bit my lip in annoyance, "Fine." I started to walk away but I felt James grab my hand tightly.

"I didn't mean that. I'm sorry, it's just that…" James looked down at the ground, "Agh!" He exclaimed, exasperated.

"Calm down James. What's wrong?" I squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"I'll explain on the way. We should get going or we'll be late." We started to walk again, "It's my family…"

"Why? What's happened?" I asked. The Potters were talked about a lot in the Daily Prophet, so it would be surprising if something dramatic went unnoticed by the press.

"Nothing…I just hate competing with Albus all the time. It's tiring when you have to fight for your father's appreciation. He's a great father, don't get me wrong, but it's hard after all the things he's done. How am I supposed to make the man who killed Voldemort proud, while trying to be better than my younger brother?"

"Sounds pretty difficult…but how are you going to make anyone proud if you don't go to your lessons?"

James took a deep breath, "I just gave up. I'm failing Potions and Defence against the Dark Arts, and I'm constantly reminded that it was my father's best subject while I'm doing terrible in it. Albus is already doing better than me than when I was in his year."

Giving him a friendly smile, I squeezed his hand gently. "Okay, I can understand why you would find it hard, but if you skip lessons how are you going to improve? People work in different ways, and people are better at different things. Is there a subject that you're better than Albus when you were in his year?"

James smiled back, "Well, I did get an Outstanding in Charms and Transfiguration."

"There you go. Please go to your lessons, you're in your last year and after your NEWTS you won't get another chance. You do know that don't you?"

"Yeah…" James kissed my hand, "I know. Okay, if I go to my lessons, you have to go to yours. Understood?"

"Yes…I suppose."

We carried on walking through the passage and continued to talk about our grades and families, which kept the conversation going until we arrived at Honeydukes.

The fragrant aroma of sweets filled my nostrils, pulling me over to the piles of chocolate frogs, jelly beans, lollypops and liquorice. This felt like a sweet-filled heaven.

"Do you want some jellybeans?" James asked, reaching in his pocket for his money.

"Yeah, but I'll pay." I opened my bag but James stopped me.

"Hey, I invited you so I'll pay." He flashed a grin and paid the shop assistant.

"Thanks." I said, opening the pack of Bertie Botts every flavour beans and pulling out an earwax flavoured one.

"No problem." James looked around, "Crap, there's Professor Longbottom with Professor Lovegood! We should go into Madam Puddifoot's now!"

Without any time to see Longbutt for myself, James pulled me in to a small but cosy café. The wooden floorboards creaked under the weight of the usual customers, fairies flew around the café while giving off a faint glow and the smell of the food was turning my stomach into a hungry beast.

"Hello, a table for two?" A plump waitress smiled at us both, her rosy cheeks standing out in the candle-lit room.

"Yes please, Susie." James smiled warmly as the waitress showed us our table, and then left us be.

"This place is lovely!" I beamed; the fairies were dropping small bursts of glitter over our heads, much to the annoyance of Susie.

"I'm glad you like it."

James' eyes met mine, and I saw the usual playful sparkle. He looked impeccably handsome in the faint glow of the candles; his cheekbones were illuminated in the light, and his eyes glittered as the candles flickered.

"You look great tonight." James spoke softly, and I felt myself shiver as he talked in such gentle tones.

"Thanks." I blushed, feeling my cheeks heat up slightly. "Urm…you do too."

James scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, "Thanks…sorry that I didn't make much of an effort. I mean I did, I just didn't have much time to get ready…and I didn't want to make things too obvious."

"It's fine. I mean, it makes sense, and I think I overdid my attire." I stared down at my clothes awkwardly; I felt like such an idiot in my short skater dress and my over-the-top makeup.

"No, you haven't. It's different seeing you in a dress…a good difference." said James, his lips were moving slowly and I couldn't look away from them.

"Thanks again. Anyway," I pulled away from the conversations over what we were wearing, "We should talk about something else…didn't we meet in Potions? Sorry, I just can't remember that well…"

"Yeah, we did. You were really talented; it's not every day a 5th year takes a 6th year class."

I blushed again, "I'm honestly not that talented." I was in James' class last year because my work was too advanced for 5th year classes. "I just practised a lot at home because there wasn't much else to do. Mother was always busy and father was…you know." My voice started to fade; this was always an awkward subject.

"Yeah…that doesn't sound too great. So how is your father? If you don't mind me asking." James asked unsurely.

"Hm…not great." I began bluntly, "he hardly remembers anything. I'm not allowed to visit him anymore…" I struggled to hold back the tears. I hardly knew my father, and I hated what he did but that didn't stop me from tearing up at the thought of never having a father around. Struggling to stop them, I felt a few tears fall down my cheek.

James looked at me in alarm, "Hey, don't cry." He wiped away my tears away with his thumb, "I'm sorry that I asked about that. I should have known that you would have gotten upset."

James put his hand over mine comfortingly, and I liked the touch. I wish that Neville would have shown that sort of compassion instead of brushing me off, but he missed his chance.

"Sorry, I shouldn't even be crying. My father made his choices and there's no going back now." I attempted to put a happy face on.

"Let's talk about something else…what do you want to drink?" James changed the subject, and I thanked him for it.

I chuckled quietly, "Take a guess."

"I'd say…an earwax jellybean milkshake?" James winked.

With hidden eagerness, I nodded shyly as James called over Susie and asked for two milkshakes and two burgers. I looked out of the window and saw few people walking by, but one of them was staring at me. It was Neville. His eyes looked hurt as he stared hopelessly in at the café, but I shrugged it off and looked back to James.

"James?" I began, "Is this…a date?"

"Yeah. I'd like to think so." James grinned, "I'm just thankful that Devil's Snare are playing tonight. Otherwise, I have no idea on how I'd ask you out."

I chuckled nervously, "Could I see the poster again?"

James obliged and handed over the scrunched up paper. It read:

_The Devil's Snare Playing in Hogsmeade!_

_One Night Only- 22__nd__ January_

_8 till late!_

Laughing in disbelief, I looked up at James, who had already tucked in to his milkshake. "Are you sure their playing tonight?"

James nodded and pushed away his drink. "Yeah, why?"

"Well you can't be too sure because their playing on the 22nd, and today is the 12th. Care to explain how you mixed up two completely different dates?" I asked, slightly annoyed.

James face palmed and didn't look up for a few seconds, "I am _so _sorry Marcia! I don't know how I mixed up the dates; I'm such an idiot!"

I stared at him with some sympathy, as he did look pretty sorry. "It's okay. I guess we'll just be in here talking all night then."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Nope." I smiled warmly.

After a night of talking over our burgers and the slurps of our drinks, James and I walked back to Hogwarts through the small passageway.

"Thanks for such a great night. We have quite a lot in common!" I smiled while I avoided treading on a dead rat. These passageways were disgusting as well as dank, but I refrained from complaining.

"It's okay, I really enjoyed myself. Yeah, we do have a lot in common. It's strange to think that we only went out now, I'm kicking myself for not asking you out last year…"

I looked at James in mild shock, "You liked me last year?"

"Yeah, I didn't ask you out because I thought you were with Scorpius. I'm so glad that you're not with him anymore."

"So am I." I said loudly, "More than you know…" I whispered, inaudible to James.

"Marcia?" James stopped in his tracks and grabbed both of my hands. "Can I ask you something?"

Looking at him with a slight bewildered expression, I nodded and squeezed his hands.

"Would you like to go to the Ball with me?" He asked with a slight grimace; obviously unsure of what I'll say.

I mentally frowned, since when was there a ball for sixth and seventh years? "Yes, I'll go with you." I smiled, "but what is it about? I didn't think that there was a ball for sixth and seventh years?"

"It's a new thing their introducing. It's to mark the anniversary of the Second Wizarding War." James smiled.

"Oh, okay." I still felt slightly confused, "Why do you want to go with me though? You could choose any girl you wanted, and I know you said you liked me and everything but I'm hardly good enough for James Potter, am I?"

"I'm asking you because I really like you, okay? Do you think that I ask every girl out to Hogsmeade? Because believe me, I don't…you're special to me Marcia. I don't understand how you can't look at yourself and see that you are special." James took a step closer, "You're beautiful, smart and yet you're completely oblivious to how amazing you are."

In a split second, our lips touched. My heart swelled at his kind words and I kissed back with slight force, but the fireworks that I experienced with Neville were no-where.

I pulled away and smiled up at James, "Thank you for that." I paused, "Yes I will go with you. Shall we go?"

James nodded and we both walked through the passage way hand in hand, but I couldn't help but feel slightly dishonest. Why couldn't I forget about Neville? He's a Professor, nothing else. Nothing could ever happen between us; he was too old and I was too young. Why am I thinking about someone who ignores me when I have a perfect guy holding my hand? As I questioned myself, I looked down at our intertwined hands. This didn't feel right…why Neville did you have to be my Herbology professor?!

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I went on a bit, I know. There was too much speech but I wanted to include some info on each other, and I found the date as a good opportunity. The next chapter will be a filler chapter, and chapter 9 will be all about the War Anniversary Ball. Anyway, please review! I've had two reviews and they were great morale-boosters, but I really want some more feedback, good or bad; I really don't mind. I have an English controlled assessment in a few days and constructive criticism will be really beneficial towards my revising!**

**Please REVIEW and FAVOURITE!**

**Thank you **_**~HereGoesMyReputation**_


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I hope you like this 'short' filler!**

**Our July in the rain – He is We**

**Chapter 8**

Lying in bed a day after my date with James, I thought over the things that had happened since then. James and I were caught out of hours by Nearly Headless Nick but he didn't tell on us, mainly because I threatened him with the Bloody Baron, as he had some sort of power over him. I rushed back to Slytherin common room and avoided the likes of Ana and her friends, who would have tormented me mercilessly for meeting up with a Gryffindor. However, what I did see shocked me terribly.

Tiptoeing over to my chamber, I noticed a neatly folded piece of parchment, folded in the familiar green ribbon. It was from Scorpius. With much reluctance, I opened the letter and read the curly writing.

_Dear Marcia,_

_You must be under some sort of enchantment; any woman who involves herself with a Malfoy must understand that they cannot get themselves out that easily. When I return, I will expect you to be waiting for me, and if you're not, your secret will no longer be unknown to the school._

_Always yours, _

_Scorpius._

After reading the letter, I started shaking uncontrollably. No-one knew about my secret, no-one other than Scorpius and that disgusting snatcher. My blood started to boil; how could he use that against me? It took so much to tell him about it, but now he's using it to get what he wants. He's a waste of space. I wasn't going to let him take over my life when I'm free to do what I want.

With a strong wave of confidence but with tired eyes, I got into my pyjamas, took off my makeup and got into bed, ready for sleep to take me.

_*****_**Dream**_*****_

"_Stay still, child. Stay there. I won't hurt you." A cold voice echoed through the dark alleyway, and I felt my body freeze. I left my wand with my things inside the shop, so I was completely defenceless. _

_I turned round to face the source of the voice- it was a dirty snatcher. His clothes were old and his face was screwed up with age and evil. _

_As he staggered towards me, I struggled to find my voice. _

"_Don't be scared, it won't hurt one bit." I could smell the firewhiskey on his breath and he took out his wand. _

"_W-what won't hurt?" I finally found my voice, but it came out as a hoarse whisper. _

"_You know what…Marcia." He hissed maliciously, tugging at my dress. How on earth did he know my name?_

_My eyes widened as he attempted to pull up my dress, "Get off of me!" I pushed him away roughly, "You filthy excuse for a man!" _

_The snatcher glared at me with red eyes, "Terokium."_

_The flash of yellow light hit me in my stomach, immobilizing me of any movement. I fell to the floor with a heavy thump, but I was fully aware of what he was doing. He pulled up my dress and I wanted to scream-_

"Marcia, wake up!" Morgosa shook me awake, and I sat upright in my bed as sweat trickled down my forehead. I haven't had that nightmare in years, and the fact that I was having it now was scary to say the least. Scorpius was messing with my head, and he was miles away from here. While he's at Malfoy Manor, and I'm up north in Hogwarts, he still had some control over me. This was ridiculous.

"What happened?" Morgosa asked worriedly. Morgosa was another girl that I shared my dormitory with, and we weren't great friends, but she was being strangely comforting.

"It was just a nightmare. I'm sorry for waking you." I croaked, getting out of my bed. My back was soaking wet with sweat.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Morgosa questioned, her grey eyebrows rose in disbelief.

I nodded unsurely. I wasn't okay, but there was no point in talking to Morgosa; I hardly knew her.

After everyone was sleeping again, I got changed into a green sweater and leggings to get ready to go outside. The stuffy air inside the castle was suffocating me, and I desperately needed some fresh air.

I walked through the long corridors and ran my hands along the cold stone walls, trying to avoid touching the paintings. After I managed to get out into the cold night air through the courtyard, I strolled along the dew covered grass to the Lake, where I would sit and think things through. Ever since my kiss with Neville, the Lake had been my favourite place to be.

To my surprise, I noticed a hunched up figure sitting on the ground. I immediately put away my wand so I was covered in darkness, other than the dim light coming from the bank by the Lake.

"Who is that?" I asked myself quietly.

I took a few hesitant steps to the mysterious figure who was sitting by the water's edge with a Herbology book. There was only one person that I knew who would spend their time reading a Herbology book in the dead of night. Longbottom.

"Sir?" I whispered, walking faster to where Neville was sitting.

Neville jumped when he heard my voice and dropped his book in the lake, "SHIT!" He swore loudly. He looked up at me with a face of pure annoyance, "What are you doing here, Marcia?"

"Bored…" I lied, getting my wand out from my pocket. "Accio, book."

Neville's book rose from the water, soaked and dripping. With a sense of humour, I dropped it into his lap, soaking his trousers.

"Marcia!" He hissed, picking up his book and chucking it aside. "Get back to your dormitory now!"

I shook my head and sat down next to Neville, "So," I paused, "How are you?"

Neville gave me the typical professor glare, "I am your professor Marcia, so you will do as you're told. Don't give me all the small talk and trying to change the subject."

"Sir, I think you lost the ability to tell me what to do when you kissed me." A deadly silence consumed us, but I felt myself carry on, "It was here when we kissed, remember? I slapped you because I was shocked, but I'll tell you something…" '_Marcia, please stop!' _I told myself_, _but I continued, "I actually enjoyed it, and I've wanted to kiss you ever since. When you told me that it was a mistake, I was heartbroken…and then you started treating me like crap. So can you blame me for not being completely happy with following your orders?"

Neville looked up at me, his mouth slight agape. "You…you want to kiss me?"

I mentally slapped myself in the face, was I somehow drunk? How could I have told him about that?! Without realising, I felt tears fall down my cheeks.

"Don't cry, Marcia." Neville pulled me into a hug as I cried helplessly into his shoulder. This felt so right…to be in his arms while he whispered little things into my ears. "I'm so sorry, Marcia."

I pulled away after basically sitting in his lap for a long while and wiped off the remaining tears. I could feel Neville's gaze on me and I looked up at him. His eyes were a light green, like a meadow on a summer day. Mine were dark, like a forest at sunset; the green of the leaves clinging to the very last bits of light they could.

Neville cracked a smile and I returned half of one, as I couldn't bring myself to do a full one.

"I'm sorry about treating you so badly Marcia." Neville whispered, his Leeds accent barely noticeable as he was so quiet.

"It's okay." I paused, "How was Hogsmeade with Professor Lovegood?" I asked, with a tang of jealousy.

"We only went to the Hogs Head, we were just talking." Neville leant backwards onto his hands, looking up at the spectacular array of stars. "Never mind that, why were _you _in Hogsmeade?"

Oh great, I've walked into this one. "I was with James for dinner. We were meant to be seeing the _Devil's Snare_ live, but he got the dates wrong. It was fun though, and I'm sure you know." I shot him a knowing look, "You did see me through the window."

Neville smiled sheepishly, "I know, but I'd thought it better that I ask…why were you with James?"

I chuckled, "Because he asked me out. Why are you asking? Jealous?"

Neville looked away, giving me a clear idea that he _was _jealous. "So you _are _jealous!" I laughed, slightly annoyed, "I thought we were a mistake!"

"Look, Marcia…" Neville looked into my eyes again and took my hands, "What we did was a mistake, but that doesn't mean that I don't want to be with you. This situation is complicated, and you know that. I'm your professor, and you're my student, so we can't be anything else. I'd love to be friends though Marcia, what do you think?"

I stared back into his eyes for a long time while I thought, he was right, but I didn't want to be just friends. However, deep down I knew that it was the only thing that we could have between us. "Yes, we can be friends." I smiled, "But can I ask for something?"

Neville nodded and squeezed my hand, his rough tanned skin conflicting with my soft, pale skin.

"Can we kiss? Just one last time? I know that we can't be in that sort of relationship, but I'll never be able to kiss you again-"

Neville cut me off and lunged forward so our lips melted together. The swift movement of our lips made my spine tingle, and the fireworks were back again. His tongue fought for entrance and I allowed our tongues to fight for dominance, this wasn't like our other kiss: short and innocent. This kiss was rough but loving. Neville's hand moved down to my waist and one of mine was in his hair, and the other on his chest. He gently pushed me onto the ground and we leant into each other, my hip bones poking into his body, and something of Neville's was poking into me too*. This was getting too far, and I should stop it now.

I stopped the kiss and looked up at Neville, who was still lying on top of me. We were panting for oxygen after our encounter, and he soon got off of me and sat back down awkwardly. "I'm sorry about that."

"Don't be sorry!" I said quickly, "I liked it; I just didn't want things to do too far. That was a good last kiss." I chuckled lightly.

Neville smiled and got up, holding his hand out to me. "Come on, we should go. You need some sleep for tomorrow. Double Herbology!"

I sighed, "Oh yes, I forgot about that. Aren't Snargaluf Stumps peaceful little things…" I joked. They were violent and you couldn't get away from one without a large number of scratches.

"They're actually pretty interesting. I quite enjoyed learning about them when I was in your year." Neville said.

I looked up at him in disbelief, "Well, only a Herbology professor would be weird enough to find Snargaluf Stumps interesting."

"I'm sure you'll warm up to them. Anyway, you're improving a lot. I think that if you carry on working hard you'll get an Outstanding in your NEWTS. You have potential Marcia, and I'm surprised that it's taken you 5 years to show it."

"You really think so?"

"I know so." Neville smiled and let go of my hand, and the warmth that I had just felt was gone. We were already at the greenhouses, much to my disappointment. "We should both get some sleep. Goodnight Marcia." He kissed my hand and went inside his greenhouse, and left me alone in the freezing night. I felt my lips as they tingled, possibly from the cold or the passionate kiss from Neville. Solemn thoughts filled my head as I thought that it was our last kiss, but it was a great one to remember. I started to walk back to my common room and took some time to think. That talk with Neville made my mind an ever bigger mess.

The morning after seeing Neville, I was walking to the greenhouses for double Herbology on my lonesome. Yesterday was a blur, and I felt giddy with happiness, but a cloud of guilt was hung over my head. I kissed Neville hours after kissing James, which was untrustworthy and a horrid thing to do, but I couldn't help but feel happy. Besides, Neville and I weren't together, it was just a goodbye kiss and nothing would come of it. James and I could get together, or we could be friends…only time would tell.

When we were let in to the greenhouse, I sat at my desk and took out my things, trying to avoid looking up at Neville. The other good thing about last night was that I knew where we stood, we were good friends and we couldn't be anything else. It felt calming to have some closure over my feelings for him.

"Hey Marce!" Rose greeted me cheerfully; her hair now curled into a half-up, half-down style.

"Hi Rose!" I tucked some of my hair behind my ear, "Did you know about the Anniversary Ball?"

Rose stared at me quizzically, "Yeah, I've known about it for some time. It was quite late minute, but still, when did you find out?"

"James asked me to it yesterday, but I didn't even know it was on!"

"Well, I told Anastasia to tell you a few weeks ago, so I thought that you would've known earlier." Rose looked puzzled as she stared at me.

"Really?" I frowned, "I don't know why she didn't tell me."

"She probably just forgot…" Rose tried to tell me, but she didn't look convinced.

"Yeah…probably."

We left it at that, but I continued to think about why Ana wouldn't have told me. Yes, we've had our ups and downs, but there wasn't a valid reason for not telling me about it as far I was concerned. I was going to talk to Ana as soon as this day of lessons was finished.

After my full day of lessons, I headed back to the common room with a head full of thoughts. The letter from Scorpius was still plaguing my mind and there wasn't much room for anything else, and the looming confrontation with Ana was taking up the rest of the room, so the lessons today were pointless. I gave the password and gingerly stepped through into common room that was full of green satin loungers and a blazing fire. Ana was giggling in one corner with the rest of her friends, and her hair was up in a sleek ponytail.

"Hey Ana, can I talk with you please?" I asked as I warily walked over to her, earning a few dirty glares from the plastics that were also part of Ana's clique.

She looked up with her pale blue eyes, a smile tugging at her lips. "Yeah, sure! Girls, can you leave for a few minutes?"

As fast as lightening, the group of girls left Ana and me to talk. They were as scared as they were desperate to be friends with her.

"Hey Marcie! You know, you don't need to ask to talk, just push one of those bitches out of the way. You're my closest friend." Said Ana, her silvery blonde hair falling behind her petite shoulders.

I struggled to ignore the annoyance that I was feeling, "Well, you know the Anniversary Ball?"

Ana's smile left her face, "Urm…yeah? How did you know about it?"

I smiled sarcastically, "James Potter and Rose Weasley. She told me that she told you ages ago about it, and she also asked you to tell me about it. Can you explain why I had to hear it from her and not my best friend?" I tightened my fist, which was an over-reaction but the whole thing with Scorpius wasn't helping at all.

"I'm really sorry about that Marcie! I just didn't want you to be embarrassed, especially about Scorpius. That half-blood only told me about it a few weeks back, and that was after the whole Scorpius thing-"

"_Thing_?! What happened between me and Scorpius was just a _thing_?! Sometimes Ana you can be really insensitive!" I could feel the anger boiling as I hissed my words, "why would I embarrassed?"

Ana's eyes burned a deadly shade of red, "if you'd let me finish! I thought you'd be embarrassed because you wouldn't be able to get a date. I mean, you've hardly got a queue of guys lining up after you. I thought I was doing you a favour!"

"In fact, I do have someone. He asked me last night, and he's the first to let me know. You're _plan _is completely idiotic, what would you say when I release that people are going to the Ball?"

"Well I was hoping that by the time you found out, it would be too late. If you found out on the day, you'd have hardly any time to get yourself sorted for it." Ana paused, "Who asked you?"

I rolled my eyes, "James Potter."

Ana sniggered, "A _**Gryffindor**_?! Are you dumb as well as desperate?"

"Oh, just f**k of Anastasia. I'm not desperate. At least I can look past differences, like our houses! James is amazing, and he actually wants more than to get into my knickers, which is more than what I can say for Jedd! Do you not know anything about his family? His father got his mother pregnant then left for the next tart!"

Ana slapped my cheek, leaving a stinging pain behind. "How dare you!" She yelled, "You're not one to talk about good families! You're fathers rotting in Azkaban and your mother is a mad woman!"

Tears erupted from my eyes and there was no stopping them. Ana was right, and I was wrong to say that about Jedd. His mother was a struggling witch who had been on her own for most of her life.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled as I rushed off through the portrait hole and stumbled in the corridors. There were two people who I could see, but my heart was pulling me towards the greenhouses.

Wiping away my tears, I knocked loudly on the large glass door. The door opened wide and Neville was looking down at me, his green eyes burning into mine. He saw my tear streamed face and let me in, ushering me inside before he shut the door.

"What's wrong?" Neville asked, with kindness and concern in his voice.

I smiled weakly up at him as I sat down at a desk and faced him, "I had an argument with Ana, but that's not the only reason."

Neville gestured for me to go on.

I sniffed pathetically, "Well, you know last night?" He nodded and I continued, "A few hours before that, I got a letter from Scorpius. He said that I was always his, and I must be under some sort of enchantment because I had no choice but to be with him. He also said that he'll be coming back, and he'll tell everyone of my secret if I don't stay with him. Why on earth did I have to be a Slytherin?" I sobbed.

"Ignore him Marcia. I won't let him return, and I promise. I'll have a word with McGonagall if it comes to that." Neville stared at me quizzically, "and what secret?" Neville asked, one eyebrow raised.

I stopped crying and looked up at him, _could I tell him?_ _No, he'll treat me like mother. He'll either refuse to believe a word, or he'll be disgusted. _"I can't tell you Neville. If I did, you wouldn't look at me in the same way again." I whispered hoarsely.

Neville sighed, "Nothing will make me look at you in a different way, Marcia."

"I'm not telling you Neville." I said sharply, my patience wearing.

"Please tell me, Marcia! Nothing could make me look at you in a different way!" Neville started to raise his voice.

"No! Just drop it will you?! Besides, like you said last night, you're my Professor and nothing more." I spat, leaving the room in a huff. I no longer felt upset, instead I felt angry at Neville. Who was he to try and get secrets off me? He knew how I felt about him, and he was using that to try and get me to tell him about what happened. The whole 'remaining only friends' thing was already getting difficult to imagine; my feelings were getting in the way. I couldn't go to Neville anymore about my problems; James should be my priority, and so should be looking amazing at the Ball, so I could make a certain Professor jealous.

**A/N: The next chapter will be the Ball! There will be some happy news for Marcia, and I hope that you're starting to see a few things making sense. If not, they certainly will in a few chapters time! **

**Just to let you know, Marcia and Neville will get some happiness for longer than one chapter! I promise!**

***This is slightly M but I wanted to include this to show their maturing relationship. I didn't go into detail or it would be an M !**

**PS: I'm halfway through **_**Deathly Hallows**_**! It's so sad knowing that it's the last book! I wish I started reading Harry Potter ages ago **

**~HereGoesMyReputation**


	9. Chapter 9 - Full of Fluff

**A/N: This is the Ball! I hope you enjoy this **** I couldn't wait to write this chapter! I wish I could show the dress that I was thinking about when I was writing, but I can't include links so that's a shame **** But I hope you'll enjoy it anyway.**

**Chapter 9 – The Ball **

Tonight was the ball! It had been a week since my date with James, my kiss with Neville and my argument with Ana. Ever since then, things had been quiet, and that was a pleasant break after what's happened. I went shopping in Hogsmeade for a dress that was awfully muggle-inspired, but I didn't mind; it was the perfect dress.

Adjusting my hair for the millionth time, I looked back at Ana, who was wearing a satin blue dress and sporting a half-up-half-down hairstyle. She looked amazing, and didn't she know it; she couldn't pull her eyes away from the mirror. Ana and I still weren't friends, but we had no choice other than trying to be civil, especially as we shared a dormitory and worked together in Potions. I looked at my reflection, I was wearing a long black fitted dress with lace sleeves and it hugged my curves. I was also wearing a small, plain black choker, as I wasn't happy to be original and wear a necklace. My hair was tied into a side French braid and I fingered it nervously. Would James like it? And would _he_ be there?

"You both look great!" Morgosa grinned, talking to me and Ana. Morgosa was wearing a pearl white dress and green lace, and her hair was in a sleek up do.

"Thanks." I smiled, "we should get going, or we'll be late."

Morgose smiled and sauntered out of the room, and I began to follow her. Ana scowled at me as I left, but I shrugged as I shut the door, there wasn't much I could do about Ana just yet.

And so Morgosa and I left for the Great Hall.

Lights sparkled throughout the hall, netted curtains were strewn in each corner of the hall and the enchanted sky above was a plethora of stars. It looked magical.

"Isn't it beautiful?" I beamed as I stared in awe. When I got no reply from Morgosa I looked to my side, and saw that she had left me.

_Great, _I thought. I was definitely on my own now, and James was nowhere to be seen.

I felt a strong pair of hands grip my shoulders, "Hey Marcia!"

I turned round and faced the culprit; it was James Potter, looking more dapper than ever in his black and white robes. "Hey James." I smiled, staring up at his face.

He looked down at my dress, but his gaze slowly moved up to my face. His features were kind, and loving. My head told me that he was the right one for me, but my heart told me otherwise.

"You look…"James breathed, "amazing."

I grinned as he gripped my waist, and memories from the night with Neville took over my thoughts. I shook my head slightly when I remembered where I was, and who I was with. "Thank you James. You don't look too bad yourself!"

"Well, I do try!" He chuckled, taking my hand. "Would you like to dance?"

"Yes, I'd love to." I let James pull me over to where everyone else was dancing.

James put one arm on my back and took my hand with the other, after a few moments we started to sway to the slow music. I rested my head on his shoulder, ignoring the surprised expressions from a few Gryffindors and Slytherins. I didn't care at that point. My mind was stuck in that dance, where I was surrounded by peers and professors, a bewitched clear sky, and the soft glow emitted from flying fairies. This felt perfect…but there was one thing missing.

After a few songs, we both took a step back and looked into each other's eyes. James leant in to kiss, but an overwhelming sense of guilt forced me to turn my head away and look at the drinks table.

"Shall we get some drinks?" I asked, trying to sound as casual as I could. Why didn't I kiss him? Neville didn't want to be with me, and James did. So why was I still pining over _him?_

"Yeah…" James said quietly, a dejected look plastered on his face. He took my hand as we walked over to the drinks table, and we both took a refillable glass of butter beer.

Taking a long swig, I glanced at James who looked pretty disappointed. I put my glass down and took James' hand, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing…" James smiled weakly.

"Don't lie to me James Potter." I squeezed his warm hand.

"Why didn't you kiss me?" James said, a slightly hurt tone in his voice.

I let go of James' hand, "I'm sorry James. It's just…if I kiss you in front of everyone, then that would mean that we're kind of…official. And that scares me."

"Why does that scare you?" His eyes locked on mine.

"After Scorpius…and Thorncroft, it's scary when you don't know who to trust. What if you hurt me like they did?" I lied. I squeezed my fist as I was angry at myself; James didn't deserve all this bull-crap. I guess I was a typical Slytherin.

"I won't. That's a promise Marcia. Whether we're friends, or going out, I'd never hurt you." James looked away temporarily, "That actually forces me to ask you something."

"What?"

"Marcia Rennie, if you can bring yourself to trust me, will you be my girlfriend?"

My eyes widened, he actually asked me to go out with him? I should be the happiest girl alive, going out with James Potter…so why didn't I feel happy? I held a debate in my head, _why shouldn't you go out with him? He's perfect, and he treats you right. __**Because you love Neville, that's why! **__He doesn't want to be with me, though! __**You'd be playing with James' feelings. You shouldn't be with either of them. **_

"Urm, Marcia?" James waved his hand by my face.

"Oh, sorry." I swallowed loudly, "Yes, James. I'll be your girlfriend."

James beamed and pulled me up from our seats, he suffocated me with a bone-crushing hug. "You don't know how happy you've made me, Marcia. I know that we don't know each other awfully well, but I know enough as far as I'm concerned."

My eyes fluttered at James' loving words, and I wanted to want this relationship as much as James did. However, that ship had sailed…and Neville had stolen my heart. James looked at me expectantly; obviously wanting me to say something just as meaningful. Instead I pushed my head forwards, crushing our lips together. I tried to stop James' tongue from entering my mouth, but the inexperienced chunk of muscle pushed its way through, swirling around like a washer. He stroked my back thoughtfully, and smiled into the kiss. I pulled away after a few minutes, as I felt slightly nauseous.

James grinned down at me as he grabbed my hands. My mind should be focussed on James, but in the corner of my eye I could see a certain Professor storming out of the Great Hall. The one and only Longbottom.

Without thinking, I rushed out of the Hall, leaving a confused James behind me. I chased after Neville, who was running towards the greenhouses, in my 5 inch heels. _That was clever_, I thought. Once I was close to Neville I grabbed his wrist and forced him to face me, and his eyes were watering.

"Why did you run off, Neville?" I questioned, knowing the answer but wanting to hear it from him.

"Why do you think?!" Neville retorted, "that should be me you were kissing, not James. That should be me who took you to the Ball…"

"W-what are you saying?" I asked.

"I love you Marcia. I want you in my life, and I can't be without you. I can't believe that it took me to see you kissing someone else to realise that."

Staring at Neville in disbelief, an overwhelming feeling of anger squeezed my insides. "I'm not some toy that you can play around with Neville! You can't just play with my feelings, and then chuck me off. You've messed me around so much, and it angers me that I've let you get away with it. And I… I don't know what it is about you that makes me so powerless. Maybe it's what happened with Scorpius, but I don't think it is. I think it's because it's just…you."

Neville took my hands and our fingers intertwined, "I'm sorry for all the pain I've caused you. I'd understand if you wanted to be with James." Neville paused, "he's young, talented and has you. I can't compete with that, I understand…"

"You're not listening!" I hissed, "I love you Neville! I'm angry at myself, not just you! You didn't treat me right, but there's something that's pulling me towards you….and I think its love. This is strange for the both of us, but love is found in the strangest places."

We stared at each other in silence, our eyes investigating each other's features. Our bodies were close together, and I could felt the heat of his body. I could hear the soft whisper of his breath as he exhaled, and I stared down at his lips. Neville rubbed my hands tenderly as I inched closer, breathing in his smell of soil and flowers. He ran his fingers up my arm, leaving tingles and goose bumps behind. Caressing my cheek with his hand, he smiled as he ran his thumb across it. We both leaned in; our lips parted slightly, both of us ready to welcome the gentle, but urgent kiss. My body tingled when our lips met, and they moved in unison. This kiss was different. I pulled my arms up to his shoulders and they stayed there while we kissed in the freezing cold.

Neville opened the greenhouse door and pulled me in, not tearing away from my lips. Neville hoisted me up onto the desks and we continued to kiss until our lips were sore, and we were desperate for breath.

"I love you Neville Longbottom." I breathed, out of breath.

Neville beamed, only slightly visible in the moonlight that shone through the glass roof. "I love you too, Marcia Rennie."

Neville pulled out his wand and formed a thick tartan blanket, laying it onto the floor of the greenhouse. This wasn't the most romantic venues, but there wasn't much choice. Neville did try his best though; he lit various candles and opened the roof with the flick of a switch, so we could see the large array of stars above us.

While Neville catered to a few of his plants, I sat down on the blanket and gazed up at the night sky. I finally felt content with life, and my heart pumped with joy. Every second of this night was going to be perfect.

"All done." Neville smiled, lying back on the blanket and pulling me in for a hug. I rested my head on his chest and listened to his steady heartbeat, and my mind was nearly lulled to sleep if it wasn't for Neville speaking.

"You look great tonight." He whispered, kissing my forehead. "James was the luckiest person there."

Guilt consumed my happiness, "Thanks, but can we not talk about James? I just want this to be about us tonight."

"I won't, I'm sorry. Besides, _I'm_ the luckiest man in the World now. I've got you, some plants and the stars. That's all I want."

Feeling giddy, I squeezed Neville tighter and he did the same. This would look wrong to so many others, but my heart told me that I was in the right place. "What are we going to do?"

"About what?"

"Us. How are we going to keep this a secret?"

Neville tensed, "I was thinking that we should wait until you leave Hogwarts. I know it's over a year away, but I'm sure that we could make this work. I don't want to lose my job, and I don't want you to throw away your education. I know that this is going to be difficult, but it will be worth it. You're worth the wait Marcia."

I bit my lip, "O-okay…but I just want to know something."

"Yes?"

"I want to be sure that I'm not going to wait over a year for you, and you suddenly decide that you don't love me anymore. Waiting for that long is risky; because I'm sure that you'll be with loads of other women who know that you're single and will make a move. You're bound to fall in love with someone else."

Neville sighed, "Marcia, seeing you tonight made me realise that I can't be without you. The feelings that I have for you are strong, and they won't be going. My love for you will forever be in here." Neville used my hand to point to his heart, "You must know that I'm not all for this lovey-dovey stuff, but I know that you need some sort of sign that I love you with every fibre of my being."

"Okay." I relaxed again and kissed his hand.

"Let's just talk and watch the stars." He breathed, staring up at the sky in awe.

A shooting star flew in the sky, disappearing as fast as it came.

"Make a wish!" Neville whispered, gripping my hand tighter.

"I have everything that I need right here."

**A/N: Hope you liked this chapter! It was full of fluff, but I thought that they deserved it after what they've been through. Anyway, drama is on the way! Thanks for reading, and please review **

**~HereGoesMyReputation**


	10. Chapter 10 - Neville's POV

**A/N: This chapter will be Neville's Point Of View on things. I hope I get his character right!**

**Chapter 10 – Neville's POV**

**A Drop in the Ocean – Ron Pope**

*NEVILLE'S POV*

_**Going back to Prom Night**_

Standing by the stage, I fidgeted uncomfortably as I watched over the group of students dancing and kissing. McGona- I mean, _Minerva_, asked me to watch over the students for the night, and I reluctantly said yes. I couldn't say no to my old Professor, now could I? The one thing that worried me was seeing Marcia…that god-forsaken black-haired girl. She was like no other girl that I've met in my life, and my thoughts were jumbled into turmoil. The kiss we shared still made my lips tingle, but I shook away the thought of her whenever that memory came to mind…which wasn't so easy when I saw her walk into the Great Hall looking like a gothic princess. Her wavy hair was tied into a sleek French plait that cascaded past her shoulders, and she was wearing black dress that flaunted her womanly curves. Hopelessly, I gazed at her as she stared at the Hall in awe, her bright green eyes glittering as the fairies lit up the hall. She looked amazing…but she wasn't mine.

_Don't be stupid Neville! You're her Professor. You made it clear to her that it wouldn't work, and you know that it won't. It'll just end in tears, and I can't do that to her._

My conscience was right, but my heart was beating a different tune. She played around with her choker as she was waiting for her date, which obviously turned out to be James Potter. He gripped her shoulders and she turned around, they gazed at each other as he looked her up and down. James was a good guy, and would treat Marcia right, but Marcia had my heart. She couldn't possibly give it away…even after all the things I've said.

But I was wrong. After attempting to look away from them as they danced and got drinks, I couldn't help but look over as they embraced. My heart shattered into pieces when Marcia lunged forward and kissed James, making me grimace when I saw a few glimpses of tongues. Starting to feel sick, I looked on as they pulled apart and smiled at each other. I need to get out of here. I walked out of the Hall as calm as I could, ignoring the calls of a few other Professors. Seeing Marcia kiss someone else didn't just repulse me, it filled me with overwhelming guilt.

Walking out into the grounds, I heard the dull sound of heels in the mud behind me, but I ignored it as I felt myself fill up with guilt and rage. Feeling a warm and tender hand grab my wrist, I tensed up as I turned to face the culprit. My eyes were watering slightly, but I tried to look as normal as I could do with tears in my eyes.

"Why did you run off Neville?" Marcia asked, her eyelashes batting innocently at me and making me feel even guiltier.

"Why do you think?" I hissed, "that should be me you were kissing, not James. That should be me who took you to the Ball…"

"W-what are you saying?"

She was so oblivious, and that just made me want to kiss her even more. My heart pumped nervously as I brought myself to utter the three (or four) important words, "I love you Marcia. I want you in my life, and I can't be without you. I can't believe that it took me to see you kissing someone else to realise that."

Marcia's face contorted with rage. "I'm not some toy that you can play around with Neville! You can't just play with my feelings, and then chuck me off. You've messed me around so much, and it angers me that I've let you get away with it. And I… I don't know what it is about you that makes me so powerless. Maybe it's what happened with Scorpius, but I don't think it is. I think it's because it's just…you."

I took Marcia's hands guiltily, "I'm sorry for all the pain I've caused you. I'd understand if you wanted to be with James." I paused, "he's young, talented and has you. I can't compete with that, I understand…"

"You're not listening!" Marcia hissed, "I love you Neville! I'm angry at myself, not just you! You didn't treat me right, but there's something that's pulling me towards you….and I think its love. This is strange for the both of us, but love is found in the strangest places."

_**After Prom Night**_

That moment made me the happiest man alive. We kissed until our lips were sore, but that wasn't what made it so great. Marcia loved me too, which made all the pain, tears and aggro worth it. We both understood that we needed to wait, in order for a relationship to work. Sometimes, I would kick myself and think: _What on earth are you on about? Starting a relationship with a student? _However, I would just remind myself of Marcia's prom night, and the other dreadful night in Hogsmeade.

_***Back in Hogsmeade-from chapter 7***_

Tiredly, I walked out of the Three Broomsticks and waved back at Luna, who was talking dreamily to Rolf Scamander. I chuckled as I walked along the cobbled street, levitating a few bags of mandrake food in front of me. The night was quiet and still-just how I liked it. Looking around the closed shops and busy restaurants, I saw something that caused my heart to shake painfully. Inside a little café, Marcia and James were staring into each other's eyes in a blissful way. Marcia's hair was in its usual, but amazing mess and she was wearing a figure hugging skater dress. My heart pumped loudly against my chest, and I felt a strong pang of jealousy pulse through my veins.

My heart jumped when Marcia looked up at me, her eyes were the colour of emeralds, but they were cold as they flicked up towards me.

"Marcia…" I breathed, looking down at her with pathetic puppy-dog eyes. I shook my head quickly, as if I was shaking away my feelings for her. Heart-broken, I walked away from the café as my shoulders drooped. How could I have not realised this before? I'm in love with Marcia.

'_No. I can't be.' _I tried to convince myself, _'It's just an infatuation. She's a student. That kiss was a mistake…I had just lost my grandmother for crying out loud! I was in a mess, and I let myself get carried away with things.'_

"I don't know who you think your foolin', love." An old voice croaked behind me.

Looking back in shock, I came to face-to-face with an old crooked old lady. _Does she know? _

"Yes, I do." She whispered hoarsely, showing me a toothless grin.

"H-how are you doing that?" I stuttered.

The old woman tutted, "You ain't very bright are ya' son?" I stared at her quizzically, "your minds open, and I can read it like a book. You ever learnt about Occlumency?"

My eyes widened in shock, who else could read my mind so easily? And about something so important? "Stop reading my mind. You have no business in my life, and my thoughts." I scowled.

"Don't worry love. I won't tell another soul. However, from what I know, you are in love with someone…a student?"

"I'm not in love with her." I snapped pathetically, but the woman just stared at me with a grin.

"You're in a state of denial. Anyone who gets _that_ jealous isn't just _'infatuated'_ with someone. You, Longbottom, are too intelligent to think that."

"How do you know my name?" I was growing even more confused.

"I'ma friend of your gran's. She told me to keep an eye on ya'…"

I smiled slightly; even though Gran was gone, she was still looking after me. "Oh okay…and for the record, I'm not in love with a student. It's absurd!" I hissed, "Good night, whoever you are."

She chuckled loudly as I walked away, "the name's Mabel!"

I ignored her and felt my jaw clench. Mabel was right. I was in love with a student…Marcia Rennie.

Man, I needed a drink.

_***Back to Monologue***_

That night was one of the worst nights I've had in a long time, and it was all because of love. I got myself drunk on firewhiskey and stumbled back to Hogwarts…much to the disapproval of Pomona and Minerva. Though to be completely honest, I had no care at all considering how I felt at that point. I was in love with a student, and no death glare from any old Professor would force me to care about how I was acting. They both escorted me back to my chambers, where I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

However, after that night, my heart fluttered and jumped around madly, in my chest. She was amazing; the way she slept, the way she talked, and the way her brilliant green eyes could look so innocent. How could have anyone treated her so badly? Scorpius was a good-for-nothing poor excuse for a man, who took pleasure in harming the girl he claimed to love. After spending that night with each other in the green house, I didn't, and still don't, regret falling in love with her. She was the one and only Marcia Rennie.

**A/N: ****I hope you liked this chapter! It's just to show Neville's POV on some things! Anyway, I've updated quite a few times this month, and I may update again. I can't wait for the next couple chapters, and I can tell you know that drama is coming! Sorry if there are any mistakes!**

**~HereGoesMyReputation**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: ****Another chapter of Professor Longbottom! This chapter will be the last until sometime in December, as I'll have a lot of work to do soon as school nearly finishing. I've probably said this a lot, but the interesting parts are coming soon! I promise!**

**Chapter 11**

***Marcia's POV from now on***

Quietly, I retrieved a book from the History section of the library and sat down on a worn-out chair by a window that overlooked the grounds. I was in the library trying to get some peace; I was getting taunts about being with James from both Slytherin and Gryffindor. The constant jeering was starting to get to me, and any time in peace was to be savoured.

"Hey, you." James said quietly, his head appearing from a side of a tall bookcase.

My heart stopped, but it wasn't my feelings that caused all of me to stop…it was guilt. A few days ago, we had our Prom, and just minutes after James asked me to be his girlfriend, I left him to spend the night with Neville. When I woke up next to Neville, I felt an overwhelming sense of guilt that forced me to avoid seeing James for as long as I could. However, that avoidance came to an end when James found me in the library.

"Hi James." I replied, biting my lip as I looked up from my book.

James joined me in the chair next to me, and I tried to conjure up a smile. He didn't return it, and that's when I knew that I was in for trouble.

"Why did you run off like that?" James questioned. I noticed that he didn't look angry, just confused and disappointed, which made me feel even worse.

"I-I…" I paused and shut my eyes, "I am _so _sorry James. I shouldn't have run off like that…you didn't deserve to be treated so badly."

James shook his head, "No, you shouldn't have. How could you just run off after all that I said? It took a lot of balls to say that! I've gotten so much shit for being with you. That night when we went to Hogsmeade was great, but I don't think it was for you…"

"Of course it was! I enjoyed that night; you were the only boy that had shown me any real passion and kindness towards me." I felt tears prick the corner of my eyes, "you treat me so well…but I just treat you like crap."

James' face softened when he saw that I was crying, "don't cry Marcia. I'm sorry about what I said."

"I should be crying, James. Don't be sorry, as it needed to be said and I needed reprimanding. You are an amazing guy, and you deserve an amazing girl."

"W-what do you mean? Are you breaking up with me? We've been going out for a few days, and we were hardly together! Come on Marcia, please just a few more weeks to see if you warm up to the idea of a relationship."

I let out a sob and he stared at me in shock, "we can't be together James! I wish that I could, because you treat me so well, and make me feel like I'm the only girl in the world…but I like someone else."

James gazed at me indifferently, "you like someone else?"

Still crying pathetically, I nodded and felt my limp hair fall in front of my face.

"So, when all the times you kissed me…and agreed to go out with me, you liked someone else? All that bullcrap about Scorpius, and not being able to trust people, was all so you could mess me around?"

Desperately, I shook my head and protested, but James' mind looked set.

He rose from his seat and cast me a cold glare, "yep, just a typical Slytherin."

After a few quiet moments, other than a few sobs, James rushed off and slammed the library door open so he could leave. Admirers of James gave me death glares, but I ignored them and continued to cry. _I'm just a typical Slytherin._

"Okay class, that's it for today's lesson. Now go off to lunch. Complete your _detailed_ essay on Devil's Snare for next lesson please." Neville waved his wand in the direction of the door, making it open for people to leave through.

"I'll see you later Rose." I waved at her as she left the greenhouse. She gave me a sincere smile and left with her other friends.

Neville smiled at me after everyone else had left, "how did you find that lesson, Marcia?"

"It was alright. Devil's Snare is a bit boring though. Why are we learning about it again? We learnt about it in our first year..." I moaned, retrieving my bag from under the desk.

"You only learn the basics in first year. If you choose to take Herbology for 6th and 7th year, you need to learn about them in detail." Neville stated.

"Hm…I suppose I'll have to learn about them then, won't I?"

"Yes. I think you will." Neville smiled, and we were in a situation where we just stared at each other, silently reminiscing prom night.

"Happy Valentine's Day…for tomorrow, I mean." I smirked, staring back into Neville's eyes.

"Happy Valentine's Day Marcia. Have you sorted things out with James yet?"

Tears blurred my vision, and Neville obviously noticed that I was going to cry because he rushed over to comfort me.

"Kind of…" I sobbed, rubbing my eyes furiously as all the crying was starting to frustrate me.

Neville frowned and guided me over to the staff room, his hand rubbing my back in a comforting gesture. He pushed the door open, and luckily, we were alone. He sat me down in a plush armchair and kneeled down in front of me, his eyes wide with concern as he affectionately stroked my cheeks.

"What's wrong Marcia?" He asked quietly, kissing my other cheek.

"James…hates me!" I sobbed, grabbing his other hand and squeezing it tightly.

"Did you break it off with him?"

"Yes, but now he hates me. He said that I'm a 'typical Slytherin', which is true because I'm a lying, cheating, stupid girl who doesn't deserve to live, or be loved. I lose all the people that I care about, and it's all my fault." I was sobbing hysterically now, and most of words came out as gibberish, but Neville still seemed to understand what I said.

He put his hands on the sides of my face, forcing me to face him. I was a mess: my nose was red, my eyes were puffy and I had snot dribbling out of my nostrils, but Neville didn't seem to care. He forced our lips to meet briefly, but it was meaningful all the same.

"Never _ever_ say that. James will forgive you, and I'm speaking as a close friend of his family. You do deserve to live, because you put all your effort into your work, but no one takes you seriously because of your family, and friends. You need to stop that from defining you, as you don't deserve to be treated like crap because of your family's choices. I love you Marcia."

"I love you too." I said stupidly, unable to match up to Neville's kind words.

"Hang on, is that a letter?" Neville pulled away from me and saw a rolled up piece of parchment, which was tied up in that all-too-familiar ribbon. _Crap, I must have dropped it!_

"Don't open it!" I squealed, snatching it out of his grasp.

Ignoring Neville's worried looks; I unrolled the letter and read the messy text.

'_Your secret will not be unknown for long, Marcia. I am coming. Soon._

_Forever yours, _

_Scorpius.'_

Gasping for air, I dropped the letter and put my head into my hands.

"What on earth is this, Marcia?" Neville asked, his rage evident as the letter shook in his hand. "Why is he writing to you?"

"Please…don't be angry."

**A/N: ****I hope you enjoyed this short chapter. There might be some mistakes as I'm really tired! Anyway, please favourite and review. **

**~HereGoesMyReputation**


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